Wilde Horses Couldn't Stop Me!
by Psychicbyinternet
Summary: Two men and a young woman are found in a submarine near Atlantis.  The two men are pronounced dead while the girl  Beatrice Wilde  turns out to be a coworker of Milo's from the Smithsonian. She is still alive, although no one can wake her up!
1. Big Catch

**I**

It was a slow fishing day. Lavuk had been sitting in his boat, fishing pole in the water for seven hours, eating without leaving his pole behind, pissing and shitting in a bucket and he'd only caught two small fish the whole day. His co-workers were having the same rotten luck. Soon they would have to go farther and farther away from the city to catch any fish.

Lavuk extended his line further, and waited. Impatient, he wiggled his pole around, wondering if that might help his chances. He waited. Suddenly he got a bite. His first bite in hours. Immediately the boat began to tip, and it was a large fishing vessel! Lavuk held on as tightly as he could. Lavuk had been fishing for fifteen years and this catch felt heavier than anything he'd ever caught before. This fish would more than make up for the shortage of fish lately! His fishing mates abandoned their poles and crowded around him, cheering. His line was so heavy that two men helped him reel it in, but the other men ended up having to help, too. The captain began driving the ship back to port.

"It is as heavy as a ketak!"

"Heh, it would make a ketak feel like a feather!"

They fell silent and pulled as hard as they could. They gradually pulled the catch closer until it reached the surface. By that time they had reached the docks. The enormous fish they had hoped for was actually some kind of foreign metal vehicle.

"So it was a ketak all along!" Lavuk sighed.

Another fisherman looked at the vehicle, "Not quite. Well, maybe there are some fish inside it."

They opened up the hatch and immediately the bodies of three surface dwellers came leaking out, soaked with seawater. Two of them looked male and one looked female.

"Sorry, Lavuk. Maybe these explorers have fish inside them…"

"Shut up!" Lavuk snapped. The surface people looked so strange to him, stranger than fish compared to Atlanteans, but he had to help them, "Great crystal! Are they dead?"

"We should take them to the infirmary right away!"

"And tell Kida!"

"And Milo!"

So the fishermen carefully carried the three foreigners to the infirmary.

**II**

It was all so overwhelming, yet so amazing. Beatrice had never worked at a museum before. This was her first job outside of a restaurant or a store. The first job that would relate to her degree. But she wasn't curator, just a ticket saleswoman. Still pretty damn good for a junior at Indiana University.

But she dreamed of being a curator or an archeologist, making discoveries that would be displayed in the museum. She loved her new job, but at the same time she was terrified of making too many mistakes and getting fired. This job was too important to her. So far she had made a few mistakes, but her boss didn't seem to mind. He seemed like a nice man. It was a simple position. And her first day was a slow one. A Monday. A crisply chilly spring Monday. A good kind of day to start. When she wasn't selling tickets, which was often, she organized and filed paperwork. It was almost time to go home. Her first day was almost over. Beatrice shivered, wishing she had brought a sweater to work.

"Chilly in here, isn't it?" a voice said.

Lost in the rhythm of her work, the girl looked up to see a young man with dirty blond hair and round, circular glasses standing in front of her booth. He was fairly tall, slightly pale and very skinny. He wore a white dress shirt, a forest-green cardigan, slacks and a tacky red bow tie. His brown eyes glimmered as he smiled at her. He was beautiful.

"Sorry, what?"

"Oh, um," he looked a little nervous, talking to her, "I was just wondering if you were cold. You were… shivering."

"Oh, yeah," she felt put on the spot, talking to a stranger, not to mention embarrassed that she wasn't paying attention when he was talking to her, "I forgot my sweater, but that's the least of my mistakes. It's my first day, after all."

"Oh really? You looked new," then he suddenly panicked, "Where are my manners? I'm Milo. Milo Thatch."

"Beatrice Wilde. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands. Her hand was shaking.

"Likewise. I work in the boiler room, so I'll make sure the lobby is nice and warm from now on. I'm your man!"

"Why, thank you!" she blushed.

"Well, uh," Milo looked around nervously, "People like you are probably freezing to death. I'd better fix that boiler. See you later!"

"Goodbye!"

She wished he could have stayed longer, even if it meant her heart fluttering out of control. This man made her so nervous. For some reason he was utterly charming. Beatrice hoped she would see him often. She had to find out more about him.


	2. Hospital of Memories

**III**

In a clean white hospital room a healer inspected the three bodies. Lavuk, Milo and Kida stood by the three unconscious surface dwellers, wondering who they could possibly be. The healer had been working on reviving them for a long time. One man had thick black hair and a coarse beard and he wore some ripped blue sailor clothing. The other man was younger, maybe Milo's age, and fairly slim with short blond hair. The young woman had wavy brown hair and a petite physique. Her skin was unusually pale and her nose was pointed. Milo felt like he somehow knew that girl or that she at least reminded him of someone he knew. The surface dwellers were still disheveled; their hair messy and wet, their bodies muddy and their clothes torn. The healer felt their heartbeats one at a time, pressing her finger to each pale neck. She paused to take a deep breath.

"It is with complete regret that I proclaim these two men dead. It seems that the one with the beard died of drowning while the other man died of a combination of drowning and blood loss. He had a very deep stomach wound which it seems he acquired right before he died. I'm sorry. It is very sad, but at least you didn't know them personally or have to see them die."

"What about the girl?" Kida asked.

"It looks like she's still holding on. She'll probably be out for a few more days and then she'll wake up. At least she survived."

"That's good news!" Milo said.

"Indeed," the doctor said, "Well, I'll start preparing these men for their funeral."

**IV**

"Mr. Harcourt!" Beatrice heard yelling from the front desk in the lobby. It sounded frantic, and it sounded like Milo, "Wait! Mr. Harcourt!"

The woman working with her that day, Sheila, grimaced, "Oh, it's that crazy Thatch again. He's going to be fired today, I guarantee it. Atlantis exists! Right, and I'm an alien from the moon! I can't wait until he's out of here. He wasn't even good at fixing boilers. You know what I mean?"

"I'm not sure I do."

"To put it nicely, he's a dreamer. To put it not so nicely…"

"And what's so bad about being a—"

But Beatrice was cut off. She saw Milo chasing Harcourt out the door, yelling, "Mr. Harcourt! Wait! I'm sure of it this time!"

"Oh, he'll be canned for sure," Sheila laughed.

When Beatrice came in to work the next day, Sheila ecstatically told her that Milo had quit, because he was "going to find Atlantis." Everyone seemed to be laughing all day. A group of fervent Milo-haters decided to celebrate at a bar after work.

But as soon as Sheila told her the news, Beatrice excused herself. When she was out of Sheila's sight, she ran down to the boiler room and peered into the window. She'd only been there once before, just to deliver a package. The student remembered the room being full of books and artifacts, more like the office of a professor than a glorified janitor's room.

As if by magic, all the clutter had disappeared. The room was completely empty, save for, well, the boiler. It broke her heart. She felt tears fall down her face. She couldn't breathe. He was leaving. The only man she had ever loved. It couldn't be true.

Suddenly she heard footsteps, getting louder and closer. Beatrice hid around the corner. It was Milo. He looked happier than he had ever looked before. The young man went into his boiler room one last time.

"Wow. They cleared it all out. I didn't know it was possible. Well, boiler room, I'd say I'll miss you, but it would be a lie! Maybe I'll come here again to meet the new boiler operator, when I have Harcourt's job!"

He chuckled playfully, "Adieu!"

He skipped down the hallway. Beatrice wanted to beg him to stay, or to at least show herself to say one final goodbye, but she couldn't. This was painful enough already. Beatrice wished she had talked to him more. She wished they had gone on a date. They were still strangers. Barely acquaintances. But she loved him, because she was a creep. Would he miss her?

"I hope you find what you're looking for, Milo."

She sat by the room for a few minutes and cried, hoping no one would see her in her sorry state. When she felt ready to go back to work, she got up and headed back to the front desk, but something caught her eye. Lying on the ground was a tattered brown briefcase filled with papers. Curious, Beatrice opened it.

"I wonder who it belongs to."

All the papers seemed to refer to Atlantis and Iceland. Many of the documents were in a language Beatrice did not recognize, although it reminded her of Greek.

"This must be Milo's! But he left a few minutes ago at the least. I'll never get it to him."

So she did what a creep would do. She kept it. As a keepsake of the few moments she had ever talked to him. She put it in her room to remind her of the most beautiful, intelligent and non-conformist person she had ever met.

"Maybe if Milo discovers Atlantis, these papers will come in handy."

**V**

The unknown girl lay in the infirmary, still unconscious. It had been three days since they had found her. Milo came into the room. He had just spoken at the funeral for the two men found with the girl.

"Has she woken up yet?" he asked the nurse.

"Sorry, Milo. Sometimes it takes a little longer to recover."

"It's ok," Milo moved closer to the girl, "She just seems so familiar. I wish I knew who she was, or who she is reminding me of."

He looked at her for a few more minutes. The khaki clothing she was wearing three days ago had been replaced by a bland white hospital gown. It made her look kind of angelic.

"Keep up the good work," Milo said as he left the infirmary.

**VI**

Lately, since the summer had begun, Beatrice had been given a lovely schedule. Monday to Friday, 9-5. Just like the curators. It had become a habit of hers to read the Washington Post every morning before work. She would usually just skim the front section and then head to the Arts section, but as she skimmed the headlines, something caught her attention.

"Two-hundred and thirty five lost in Atlantis expedition."

"What?" she gasped.

She skimmed impulsively, frantically for Milo's name. She didn't want to find it, but she had to look. And she found it.

"Amongst those who went down with the submarine was the cartographer and linguist Milo Thatch."

It had to be a lie. A misprint. For God's sake!

"Journalism these days!" Beatrice laughed quietly, "They'll print anything if it'll get them more readers."

Her laughter grew louder until her father told her to shut up. And then she just laughed even louder. Her laughter was no longer graceful, it was eerie. And then she started to sob. She felt the kitchen table shaking, controlled by her trembling hands.

Her father came downstairs, extremely annoyed.

"If I have to tell you to zip it one more time… Oh, you're crying, now? Your mother has been dead at least seven years."

"No," Beatrice wasn't prepared for this. She couldn't tell her father about Milo. He wouldn't understand. He'd probably think she was stupid, "these headlines just really depress me sometimes. Look!"

She pointed to the article she was reading, "Two-hundred and thirty-five dead! It's just too much to take in."

"Oh, Beatrice. There's nothing you can do about these things. At least it wasn't you or me, right?"

"It's still sad, though."

"Yup, it's sad. But you know what's sadder?"

"What? I can do with enough depression today," she wiped her eyes with her hanky.

"That you don't have a husband yet. You should start thinking about that soon."

"Not this again," she thought to herself. Her father, Donald, had been on her case about getting married for a few months. Actually, ever since she had turned nineteen.

"Shouldn't I be focusing on my studies?"

"Right. I need to talk to you about that, too."

"What?" this was worrying her quite a bit.

"Well, I think you've probably learned a lot with elementary school, high school and your three years at Indiana. So I think you should drop out and focus your energies on finding a wealthy, well-educated husband."

"Are you serious?" Beatrice was livid, "Do you even know why I was studying at that college? Not to impress some rich guy, but to become an archeologist. That's what I want to do with myself."

"Are **you** serious? You should have been looking for a husband at college. That's the only reason I allowed you to attend."

"All these years wasted. I should have just skipped college, put on my best lipstick and rouge and walked down Main Street pretending I'd lost an earring. Father, if I can't do what I'm passionate about, I'm going to be miserable."

He scowled, "You think I'm happy? I work in a cologne factory. But that's what normal poor people have to do, and, sorry to break it to you, you're normal, and you're poor. Besides, if you find a rich enough husband, you'll probably be able to do what you want, as long as you don't make a career out of it. You just need to make the best of your situation, okay? All women go through this."

Beatrice looked at her dad. They were poor. They were ordinary. And it wasn't going to change unless they really worked on getting more money. Maybe she had been selfish, going to college, trying to be one of the first female archeologists.

"I guess you're right. We need to think about money instead of dreams," she sighed, "So, do you have any idea how I get a rich man to marry me?"

"Hmmmm…. Try complimenting him a lot. I'm no good at this. Ask your aunt or one of your lady friends," he went back upstairs.

She looked out the window, which was stained with dew and bathed in sunlight. It was a beautiful day. And time to go to work. But Beatrice didn't want to go because for her it wasn't a beautiful day. It was the day she would begin to break and crumble inside.


	3. Trust Issues

**VII**

The girl had been asleep for an entire week now. Would she ever wake up? They had tried all their Atlantean techniques and strategies. Milo had tried everything he remembered from the surface world, and yet… nothing! It was distressing. But she was still breathing. Her heart was still beating. It was like she was in some kind of eternal slumber.

The Atlanteans were fascinated with her. Not only was she a surface-dweller, which was still exotic to them, but the whole situation reminded them of one of their oldest myths, "The Sleeping Queen." It was exactly like the surface fairytale "Sleeping Beauty." The Queen is cursed and she cannot wake up until her true love kisses her. Atlanteans were such romantics. Men had started to visit the surface girl in the hospital and tried kissing her in order to save her, just like in the fairytale. The people sincerely believed that what would save the woman was not Atlantean medicine, but a kiss from "the chosen one," whoever that would be. So the men kept trying and trying… And Milo just wished she would come out of it someday.

He was having strange dreams, nightmares. There were two in particular that kept replaying night after night.

In the first Audrey kept punching him over and over again, harder and harder, and she repeated her catchphrase, "two for flinching." Suddenly he was working in the boiler room at the museum again.

In his second dream he was in a submarine and it was being crushed by the Leviathan. He fell out of the submarine and glided down to the bottom of the ocean. All kinds of monstrous mutated fish closed in on him. They started to bite him with their long razor sharp teeth and he heard a voice screaming, "Milo!" A dead man in a sailor's uniform started to drift toward him, his blood mixing with the water.

He had the latter dream that night and he woke up in a cold sweat, panting. Thankfully he didn't wake Kida. He tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. Giving up, he wandered over to the hospital wing of the palace. It wasn't the greatest place to wander about in the middle of the night, but he was so worried about the surface girl, he had to go check on her. He had a strange feeling about her. Milo took the stairs to the second floor. Everything was so eerie in the hospital at night. It was so quiet it was like someone screaming in his ears. His wandering did not calm him down after his nightmare, it just made him even more frightened.

The sound of whispering almost made him fall over. He saw the girl's room at the end of the hall, but two men were talking outside of it; one the night security soldier for the hospital wing, and the other, a man Milo had never seen before – ugly and muscular. He hid around the corner so they couldn't see him eavesdropping. The unfamiliar man was handing the soldier money. Was it some kind of bribe? Then the guard unlocked Beatrice's room and the ugly man went in, closing the door behind him. The soldier left to go back to the first floor.

Milo was nervous about what the man was up to. He waited for a long time, and then decided whatever the man was doing was serious. The king had to investigate. He peered through the window of the girl's room.

Milo couldn't believe his eyes. Maybe he was still dreaming. He slapped himself and looked again. It was real. He felt a lump in his throat and hot tears falling down his cheeks.

Beatrice lay there, completely unconscious and oblivious. Completely naked. And, on top of her, thrusting, grasping her pale breasts, was the ugly, muscular Atlantean. The man was quietly moaning in ecstasy. He didn't care about her consent, about whether she was conscious or not.

Milo looked away. It was the worst thing he had ever seen. He couldn't bear to watch. And then he felt it in his heart. He had to make it stop. Milo was about to go in and rip that man off of the surface woman when he felt warm breath on the nape of his neck.

Turning around, he found himself face-to-face with the security soldier. Milo gasped.

"Evening, your highness," he said with a menacing friendliness. The man grinned, "I could kill her. I could make it look like you did it. Or I could take the blame for it. I'd kill her any day of the week, even if it meant risking it all."

"Who?" Milo whispered, absolutely terrified.

"Beatrice. Kida. Doesn't matter. Anyone you care about. All of them. I don't have big plans. But I do like to make money and I don't care what I have to do to get it. So just pretend this never happened."

"But…"

"Pretend it never happened or I'll KILL them."

"Can't you make money some other way?"

"Fuck that!" he chuckled loudly, "Do you know how little work I have to do in this humble little business of mine? Now get the hell out of here and don't you dare tell anyone that this happened."

Milo sighed, "I guess I'll have to." A pained expression crossed his face, "Can't you make it stop? It's just… horrible!"

"Relax, Miles. He's nearly done," the soldier patted Milo's shoulder.

The man was hefty. He looked confident and trashy. Proud of his bad taste.

"Listen to him. He'll be another minute maximum."

"Wait, how do you know his sex patterns?" Milo suddenly looked completely disgusted, "He's a repeat customer… and you've done this before…"

"It's a sick world."

"How many times… for h-her?"

"Three, or so."

Milo gaped, then he stormed down the hallway, teeth clenched. How did his advisors manage to hire such a corrupt man to guard the hospital at night?

He wanted to throw up. It was all too much for him. And he was powerless even though he was the king. He paced the city until morning.

**VIII**

"Just a few more months," she whispered as she wrapped a slab of lard in paper packaging for the ninety-fourth time that afternoon. It was hard to tell whether she was thinking out loud because the machinery was so noisy. Beatrice wondered if she would be able to hear after all of this.

It was a little past three o'clock in the afternoon and the girl was already tired enough to go home. It was mind-numbing, doing the same thing constantly. She had begged them for a different job for variety, but her boss told her if she made a remark like that again she'd be fired. Lard factories are not interested in change unless it will earn them a significantly higher profit.

Beatrice was now working three jobs. Seven in the morning to three in the afternoon at the museum, and then off to work at the lard factory from three until midnight. Then she'd usually work seven in the morning until eleven at night as a maid for a few wealthy home-owners during the weekend.

Her only free time was sleeping and the occasional break or day off which she spent researching Atlantis and other ancient societies. But that suited her fine. When she had time to herself, she found herself thinking of Milo, who had died a terrible death in Atlantis. And no one seemed to care or notice except her. It always left her sobbing in her tiny apartment. So she kept herself occupied. But that wasn't the only reason she worked one hundred and seventeen hours a week. She was going to find Atlantis for Milo. In his memory. To get his dignity back for him and to give him a figurative immortality. She needed a lot of money to buy a submarine and some employees for her expedition.

When she told her father her plans he told her to get out of his house. And she did. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but it was for the best.

Beatrice started humming a song she was making up on the spot. Save for the hum of machines, there was no music at any of her jobs, so she made her own.

She remembered what Milo had written about Atlantis in his papers. The land was a paradise. They had beautiful white hair, tanned skin, and blue glowing tattoos. They ate delicious food, full of interesting flavours. These people had brand new inventions that solved all their problems. If only she could use their inventions right now.

Beatrice dreamed she was swimming with Atlanteans as she packaged the lard.

"If anything can save me, it's my imagination," she thought to herself.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…


	4. The Moment I Said It

**IX**

Two days later, Milo had his servants move the surface woman to the room beside Milo and Kida's. Milo locked the room after dinner and unlocked it in the morning. He watched the room like a hawk and hid the key to it. Everyone, especially Kida, thought he was being much too paranoid about the girl's safety. In response Milo would laugh sarcastically, "Oh, yeah. She was perfectly safe already, just like Oliver Cromwell's head or the Pyramids of Egypt, right?!" No one seemed to get the reference. People began to wonder if the King's royal duties were wearing him out. Milo had lost much of his trust for the people who worked in the hospital wing. He was trying hard to maintain his trust in the people around him. It seemed his only sure-fire friend was Kida.

Kida had noticed that Milo's mind would wander when he wasn't near that room. She felt a little neglected, well, actually very neglected lately. They were having lunch together and he was barely paying attention to her.

"Milo?"

Looking off to the side, he turned back to Kida, "Huh? What is it?"

"You've barely touched your food."

"Oh, right," he started eating his lunch.

"It's not just that," Kida sighed, "your mind had been elsewhere lately. What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Just, you know, thinking."

Her tone was getting colder, less curious and more probing, "About what, exactly?"

"Well, to tell the truth, I'm rather worried about that girl from the surface."

Kida's annoyance rose.

"Oh how wonderful. Her again. Why is he always talking about her?" she thought to herself.

"Why are you worried?"

"Well, she hasn't woken up yet, and it's been, well, a really long time," Milo was getting nervous. He hadn't heard Kida speak with this tone of voice before. He wondered what he could do to make her feel at ease.

"I see," Kida was silent for a few moments.

Milo was desperate to fill the silence, "I'm just worried about her safety."

"Her safety? You really shouldn't be concerning yourself with her so much. Other people can take care of her."

"But I'm the king. Aren't I supposed to take care of all my subjects?"

"To an extent. You're treating her like family."

Their voices were growing louder. She was starting to piss him off.

"But what if she's dying?"

"She's not dying! You just want to be with another woman!"

Milo felt his body clench. Kida was being impossible.

"That's ridiculous! I'm not allowed to care about someone other than you?"

"If you're going to act like this, then no! You're making a fool out of me and out of yourself!"

"Really? I'm so sorry," he said sarcastically, "I'll never make a fool out of you again!"

Milo got up to leave.

Kida yelled, "Fine. And don't come back!"

Evening came. It had been nearly ten days since they found the girl from the surface. Milo lay on the couch outside his royal suite. After the fight he had had with Kida, she wouldn't even talk to him, let alone let him into his own bedchambers. He tried to get comfortable on the couch, but he had the dream when Audrey kept punching him again. He woke up at four in the morning.

"Should I even bother going back to sleep?" he wondered to himself. He decided against it. Instead he resolved to go check on the surface woman in the next room.

Milo sat up and put on his glasses. He delicately tried the door of his bedchambers, and, luckily, it was unlocked. He quietly walked to his desk and opened the desk drawer as quietly as he could, trying not to wake Kida. He fished a key out from under a pile of books and papers in the drawer. Then he unlocked the door to the girl's room. He felt a shiver run through his body.

Closing the door behind him, he went to look at the girl up close. Would she ever wake up? The nurses had basically given up on her. Milo believed she could, she would – there had to be a way. Time heals all wounds. He felt her wavy brown hair between his fingers. It should have been quite greasy by now, but it wasn't. Strange. It felt like silk. He hadn't felt surface hair other than his own for so long. He could have smelled her hair for hours. He felt her smooth skin. So pale. Paler than his.

He was so happy that she was safe, so happy that she wouldn't be used by those men anymore. Milo wanted her to wake up so badly. Now. But then he would eventually have to tell her about those men, the corrupt security soldier and he couldn't do that to her, crush her with the truth. Maybe he wouldn't. He wanted her to be happy.

"Who are you?" he whispered. She looked so familiar.

The king leaned in closer and smelled her hair again. Such a different smell. It reminded him of old times; his parents, maybe. It reminded him of university, enormous libraries, fall leaves, ancient trees, water, old photographs, flowers, fresh linens, the museum, Coney Island, his boyhood home, his boyhood bed, his mother, the spring air… Such an intricate smell. It forced so many memories back into his mind. They were pleasant memories, but it hurt to think of them, knowing he'd never see his family again.

Beatrice. Her name was Beatrice Wilde. From the museum. And everything slowly came back to him.

He'd barely talked to her when he worked at the museum. He wanted to, but he was terrified. It was hard for him to talk to girls. Audrey, Packard and Kida were the only women he really felt comfortable around. He didn't know how then, so he decided to focus on his research instead. He knew so little about her. She worked at the ticket booths. Her name was Beatrice Wilde. She was a university student.

Why did it take so long for him to remember her? Maybe Atlantis had made him thoroughly forget his past life.

They'd exchange a couple hellos here and there, when they passed each other by. They were practically strangers.

He chuckled to himself, "This is a good chat we're having right now. Just like old times. We never talked, but we knew each other's names."

They were practically strangers. So why did he feel so compelled to protect her?

He'd always thought she was pretty. He wondered what she was like. Whether she would want to know him. Maybe she thought he was crazy, like everyone else. Was there anyone at the museum who didn't just think of him as a lunatic? Milo wondered how she ended up in Atlantis.

He felt butterflies in his stomach and his heart rate accelerated when he realized it. It could be him. He could be the knight in shining armour that had to save the damsel in distress. He really wanted to save her and find out more about her. Maybe it wasn't just a coincidence that they were currently the only two surface-dwellers in Atlantis.

So he did it. No hesitation. Without thinking, for once. He leaned in and kissed her. Explored the stiff mouth with his tongue. Her cold lips were so soft. He wondered if he was any better than that muscular man in the hospital, but he was doing this to try to save her.

**X**

Beatrice looked from the submarine window to the papers in her hands. She didn't know how Milo came up with all this information about Atlantis all on his own. It seemed impossible.

He even provided directions from Iceland to Atlantis. Unfortunately Beatrice had run out of these directions. The last thing in his notes was to keep going deeper and lower until you see a variety of shipwrecks. After that she would have to rely on intuition.

"Ok, Jay, take us further down. We're looking for a place with a bunch of shipwrecks."

"Okay, boss," Jay, one of her two assistants, answered sarcastically. He was fairly slim with short blond hair. Even after being together for several days, Beatrice still didn't feel that he took her seriously, since she was a woman. He'd been criticizing her constantly. Assistants capable of respecting their superiors for more than five seconds despite gender were much more expensive (and hard to come by in the 1910s).

"I still think it looked more promising to the left," Jay said. What he was saying was idiotic. It made no sense. It was almost as if he was just disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing.

"I'm just following the directions."

"Hey, Beatrice, I see a shipwreck to the right," George, the other assistant, spoke up. He had thick black hair and a black beard. Unlike Jay, he was professional and knowledgeable. George had navigated for many ships before.

Suddenly they were looking at hundreds of ships. Some were old eighteenth-century pirate ships, some were fishing boats from no more than five years ago. There were steamboats and giant cruise ships, tiny rafts and submarines. Beatrice even spotted a rotted Viking ship, surprisingly well-preserved after hundreds of years.

"Well, this is the right place according to your stupid directions, but who's to say we won't join them in the shipyard of death?" Jay smirked.

"Well we haven't yet," Beatrice tried to stay calm, but unexpectedly they felt the entire ship lurch. Their papers and belongings fell everywhere. George's coffee fell on him and his mug fell to the floor, smashing into tiny pieces. He bellowed in pain.

Suddenly Jay was terrified. He didn't care about proving Beatrice wrong anymore.

"I'm going to die," he said in a whisper. His voice was frightening and intense, "But first I'm going to have you, Beatrice. And then you're going to die with me."

Beatrice looked at Jay's crazed expression and ran to the other side of the submarine as fast as she could. The misogynist assistant charged after her and caught up quickly. He pushed her against the wall and started to kiss her lips aggressively. Beatrice couldn't stand his kiss. It tasted like raw meat. Thinking she had given up on evading him, Jay started to take off his pants.

The girl ran to the other side of the sub, making it rock even more than it was already was with the Leviathan lunging at it. George ran after Jay, trying to convince him they would survive if they kept calm and strategized, but Jay punched him in the face. George fell to the ground, unconscious. Beatrice shrieked.

After more running and stripping, Jay was wearing nothing but his briefs. He was actually quite muscular.

Beatrice was terrified, thinking to herself "If he takes a swing at me, I'm done for!"

She kept running around the small submarine, not sure how much longer she would last. He pinned her against the wall again.

"You belong to me."

He squeezed himself up against her so hard that she couldn't even move her neck. He released quickly and then punched her in the stomach. Beatrice slid down the wall onto the floor. Her body was throbbing but she was still barely conscious. Just what Jay had planned.

He pulled down her pants slightly and then her underwear. Then he pulled his underwear off.

"You're mine. So pathetic. Look at our leader now. Sprawled out on the floor like a rag doll. I hope you like it up the ass too," he snickered.

It was cold suddenly. Was it that the water from outside had entered the submarine? It was. He could feel the icy water on his feet and on his legs. But what he felt was much colder than that. Colder than he had ever felt before. And then the pain seeped through his veins. It was coming from his back, and his stomach. It was excruciating. He burned with anguish. He looked from Beatrice's horrified face to his own body. A knife was coming out of his stomach and his torso was soaked in blood.

"Who did this?" he said weakly.

Jay looked behind him and saw George cleaning the blood from his hands with the water flooding the submarine floor.

"You bastard! Fuck you!" Jay reached for his pistol, but realized that his gun was in his pants which were lying in a heap several feet away. He was determined to kill George. He tried to get up but it was so painful it made him faint.

"I never liked him. Pity those will be his last words," George said to himself.

The submarine was gaining water at a ridiculous speed and shaking like mad. George put Beatrice's pants and underwear back on. She was still barely conscious, with only a slight inkling of what was going on. George ran to the control panel and desperately tried to steer the ship away from the Leviathan. The water was up to his chest.

"We're not going to make it. But maybe I can save Beatrice."

George put Beatrice in the supply closet and wedged Milo's papers and other objects into the gap below the door until water stopped flowing into the closet.

"Goodbye Beatrice. You'll be safe for a little while at least."

George thought he heard her scream "No!" but he couldn't let water into that closet. Someone from their team had to live. And that closet only had room for one.

He went to the front of the submarine and prayed to Poseidon until the water covered his mouth.


	5. Escape

**XI:**

He opened his eyes, wondering if it had worked, but her eyes were still closed. He lingered a little longer in his kiss and then he suddenly felt breath weakly pushing his lips away. Her eyes flitted open. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Milo drew away in amazement. She was awake! She was alive!

They looked at each other in complete disbelief. Suddenly Milo realized the consequences of his actions.

"Kida…" he thought to himself. He had already been a knight in shining armour for someone, someone he had made a promise to. And Kida was already mad at him. This would make things even worse.

"M-milo…" she murmured, "you're still alive?"

"Yeah," he smiled. He had to hurry. If someone saw her awake with him at four in the morning, people would draw conclusions.

"Beatrice. You must be extremely confused right now, but I just need you to trust me. Yes, I am Milo. Yes, I am alive. Yes, I… just kissed you. But I need you to forget this happened. Wake up in a few more hours and say that nothing woke you up, you just… woke up suddenly, all by yourself. I need you to forget that I kissed you, okay? Just do this one thing for me. Please?"

He was pleading with her. She looked scared and perplexed, "Okay, Milo. I trust you."

He thanked her and then left, locking the door behind him. Beatrice lay down again, eyes wide open.

"How can you expect me to sleep when I just woke up?"

All the same, she was just happy to be alive. Even happier to know Milo was alive, too, after all the years she thought he was dead. She hoped she wasn't dreaming and tried to fall asleep.

**XII**

Milo made sure the door was locked and put the key in his pocket. If he told the truth, would Kida ever forgive him? He didn't know where to go. He had to think. He needed a place where people couldn't find him, or where they could, but only after a while. He flew a ketak up to stone giant head around the outskirts of the city. And thought. And cried. And threw rocks at the birds. And yelled at the waterfalls. And cried some more. Kida might never find out about this, but how could he be her husband if he had to hide things from her? Especially this early in their marriage.

"I wasn't thinking about Kida in that room at all. I just wanted to save that girl. Maybe I really am neglecting Kida for this girl. She was right to be mad at me!"

He looked around the city. It was so beautiful. A wonder of the world, at the least. And he was in charge of it with Kida. How could he have screwed this up so royally? He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Could he now?

"I'm a terrible person. A terrible husband. And I dragged that innocent girl into this. I told her to forget it ever happened. A minute into her first day in Atlantis, conscious, and I'm telling her to forget what happened. I'm so… lost."

He sat down in defeat, "But that fairytale… didn't it say that only her true love could save her with a kiss?"

He gasped, "Am I her true love?"

He thought about it, "Impossible! I barely know her. You can't just know someone is your true love with that little information! And I thought Kida was my true love. It's just because I'm from the surface."

Looking down at the stone giant beneath him, he sighed, "What should I do, my old pal?"

The giant sprung to life and started walking toward Milo's palace.

"Wait a minute, you can understand me? That is incredible! What are you trying to say, that I should tell Kida what happened?"

The giant simply started walking toward the palace. When they reached the palace, the giant lowered his head, so Milo could step off.

"Thank you for your help."

The creature nodded in acknowledgment and went back to his post.

"I still don't really know what to do. I guess I'll wait it out."


	6. Why the Long Nose?

**XIII**

Kida groggily opened her eyes and stretched.

"Mmmm… Did you sleep well, Milo?"

She reached to her right to stroke Milo's soft hair and give him a good morning kiss, but all she could feel was an unoccupied pillow.

"Milo?"

She sat up and looked around.

"Up early, I guess."

Usually Milo waited for her to wake up when he got up earlier. He liked to watch her sleep. It was so cute and charming.

Then she remembered their fight yesterday and her anger came back.

"How could Milo have been so thoughtless?!"

She got dressed and then opened her bedroom door, saying "I'm still angry at you and I expect an apology today!"

But Milo did not respond because he was not there. This was quite strange.

"Maybe he had some business to attend to right away. That's it! I'll check the throne room."

She tried to walk, but ended up almost running. Her anger was quickly becoming worry. What if he had been kidnapped? What if he had gone out to explore Atlantis, becoming lost?

When she reached the Throne Room, the morning candles hadn't even been lit and the room was nearly empty.

"This is very unusual," it was an effort for Kida to keep her voice from shaking.

"That girl's room!" she thought, "He does go there a lot."

As she made her way to the unknown girl's room, she saw a guard doing the morning rounds.

"Have you seen Milo?"

"No, I haven't, your majesty. Would you like me to form a search party?"

Kida almost exploded at the guard, "No! We do not need a search party! I will find him!"

The guard seemed frightened, but he bowed and continued his rounds. Kida immediately regretted her outburst but the guard was already out of view.

"Sorry…" she sighed.

The queen tried to open the door to the unconscious girl's room, but it was locked. She banged and yelled, "Milo? Are you in there?"

She could faintly hear a voice saying, "Hello?"

It was not Milo. Did this mean that the girl was finally awake?

Beatrice heard Kida yelling, "Is Milo there with you?"

"Oh no. I wasn't supposed to be awake yet. But I'll answer her question," the young woman thought to herself.

"No, he isn't."

Kida left without saying anything. She was too sick with worry to be polite, especially to the girl who had caused the fight between her and Milo.

But then she saw him walking towards her down the corridor. She felt so happy and angry at the same time. It was painful, like touching something hot and something cold at the same time.

"Milo!" She hugged him violently, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!"

"Then you should be ashamed!" she punched him in the gut. Milo grunted and nursed his stomach.

"I thought I would die, I was so worried! And I was already mad at you! Where did you go?" Kida exclaimed.

"Oh, you know, I went for a morning walk," he winced.

"You treat this like a joke! Next time, tell me where you're going, or at least leave a note!"

"Okay, okay," Milo laughed.

"I do have some news for you, though," Kida was slowly going back to normal.

Milo looked at her attentively, "Yes?"

"I'm not sure, because the door was locked, but I think that girl is finally awake!"

Milo's face fell. His mind was racing, "Oh my god. Kida must have talked to her through the door. Beatrice forgot what I told her! What did she say? Or worse, what will she say to Kida? No, I'm fine. I'll just try to do most of the talking for her. It'll be fine."

Milo tried to smile, "Oh, really?"

"Yes! Is something wrong, Milo?"

"No. No! Nothing's wrong! Why would anything be wrong?" he was not hiding his feelings very well, "Let's go talk to her."

"Yes. I am very curious about her. I honestly thought she would never wake up."

Beatrice heard footsteps outside the door. It had been a few hours now. She was getting hungry. Perhaps she was now allowed to be awake. She had spent the time exploring the room she was in, inspecting the strange symbols that seemed to be on most of the objects. She had never seen that script before, although it reminded her of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

"Maybe this is Atlantis! Oh, how exciting!"

Soon bored, she tried to translate some of the strange script, but she was not doing well.

She paused and wondered what she would say if they asked her how she got there. She couldn't tell Milo it was all for him. In tribute. Out of love. She had to make something up. But what?


	7. The Vegetable Speaks

**XIV**

Milo produced a key from his robes and used it to open the door to the girl's room.

Milo continued to feign innocence, "I hope you're right about this Kida. I have so much to ask her!"

They found the girl sitting on her bed, casually studying an Atlantean writing tool, similar to a quill. She looked startled, but excited to see other people. Other forms of life.

Kida began, "Hello. Welcome to Atlantis! I am Kidagakash, queen of Atlantis and this is my husband, Milo Thatch! He is from the surface, like you!"

Beatrice stopped listening to Kida at "husband." So Milo was married to this strange woman with white hair. She had always pegged him as the sort of man who wouldn't be very good at wooing women. The sort of man that might love a woman like herself since he had few prospects. She decided she should at least try to be happy for him. His wife was absolutely gorgeous. He must be so happy with her. He must wonder how he ever got her to marry him. She must try to be happy for him. And for her. But it hurt. She used to dream about Milo. She used to believe he might love her. It hurt to know that they could only be friends. If that. She mustn't let it show.

"So now that you know about Atlantis, I would like to learn about you," Kida finished, "what is your name?"

The white-haired woman seemed kind. So she wasn't just a beautiful woman, she was the entire package. Beatrice wanted to cry. She held it in well.

"I am Beatrice. Beatrice Wilde."

"I knew it! I knew I knew you," Milo said, "Yes… I remember… Do you remember me? We worked at the museum together."

It seemed half-fake, half-real, the way Milo said it, as if he couldn't decide whether he was all-out lying or not. Either way, it was all wrong. This moment should have happened differently.

"Yes. I do remember you," she looked at Kida, politely trying to include her in the conversation, "He worked in the boiler room and I worked at the front desk. I'm surprised you remember me. We were really just acquaintances."

"Milo, you didn't tell me this!" Kida said.

"Well, I only had a hunch. Hearing your voice confirmed it."

"Um, are we actually in… Atlantis?" Beatrice was still amazed by her surroundings.

"We sure are," Milo grinned.

Beatrice held out a quill that she had found in her bedroom, "What does the writing on this say?"

Milo took the pen and studied it for a moment, "The truth will warm the soul."

"That is the Atlantean motto," Kida said.

"Darn! I thought it said that the trees were warm here," Beatrice sighed, "But that doesn't quite make sense."

"Don't worry. I could teach you if you want," Milo said, "This talk of linguistics reminds me of the museum. How is everyone there?"

"They all thought you were dead," Beatrice said.

"Did anyone miss me?" Milo asked.

"Well, erm, most of us did, except Harcourt and his colleagues," Beatrice lied.

She couldn't bear to tell him that she was the only one who missed him.

"That Harcourt. I wish he was here now so I could see the look on his face!"

Kida cleared her throat, "This is all very interesting, but I was wondering how you were brought to us."

"Right," Beatrice said, "Well, that is a very long and interesting story."

"We have plenty of time. Let's hear it," said Milo.

In truth, Beatrice hadn't thought of any lies to use to answer his question.

"I guess I'll wing it," she thought to herself.

"Where do I start?" she said aloud, "Me and two of my friends from university were researching the whales around Iceland. Wait a minute. Where are they?"

Milo and Kida exchanged fearful glances.

"I'll tell her," Milo said to Kida.

He looked Beatrice in the eye, "I'm so sorry, Beatrice, but they are both dead."

"What?"

"They are dead. I'm really sorry."

"A blond skinny guy and a middle-aged man with a black beard?"

"Yes," Kida said.

"I thought so. I was hoping they would survive somehow," she felt a lump in her throat, "I remember George locked me in a closet and stuffed the bottom of the door so no water would get in. I thought he had a plan to save himself, but I guess he didn't. He gave up his life to save me. George was such a good friend to me, and now he's… gone."

She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face. She wiped her eyes with her hands. Kida gave her a hanky.

"You must miss your other friend as well," Kida said softly, "But just remember the good memories you had together."

"Oh, him? Jay? Yes, I miss him too."

She did not miss Jay one bit. At least that despicable man was dead. She had lost a dear friend but she had also lost an enemy, a tormentor, a monster.

It was so sad and hard to believe that she wouldn't be able to see her friend again.

"Sadly, their funerals and burials took place while you were asleep," Kida said.

"You were asleep for almost ten days," Milo added.

"We thought you might have died with your friends," said Kida.

"Oh my goodness. This is so much to take in," said Beatrice.

"If you'd like, we could hold another funeral for your benefit," Kida offered.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about me," her lips were quivering violently. She was shaking, "I just need to be alone for a while. Can I go to my room?"

"Yes," said Kida, "If you need someone to talk to, I'm right here."

Beatrice nodded and walked to her room quickly, feeling almost sickly. She had had her fill of strangers and death and sleep. She closed her door and started to weep.


	8. Lunch and Laughter

**XV**

"My heart is breaking for that girl," Kida said to Milo, "I felt the same way when my own mother and father died."

"Me too," Milo felt a lump in his throat, "I guess it's just something everyone had to suffer through. Some have to suffer earlier, which makes it so much worse…"

**XVI**

Beatrice had nearly finished mourning her friend and her lost time. She sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. Sometimes it could be so soothing to be alone and to think about nothing. Soak in the silence. She almost always dealt with her problems alone. Beatrice heard a knock at the door. Was it Milo, or Kida? Her body stiffened as she opened the door.

It was Milo. He gave her a hug. Beatrice was too nervous for it to be comforting, but she appreciated the fact that he cared. She had never hugged him in the years she had known him. It was an intoxicating feeling. And his scent was just as intoxicating. She tried to relax and not think about her feelings for Milo.

"I'm so sorry again. Are you feeling any better?"

"A lot better. It helps to be alone for a while."

Then she remembered her promise.

"Milo, I'm sorry. I didn't pretend to be asleep as long as you told me to. In the room, I mean. But I didn't say anything beyond 'Hello' and 'Milo isn't here with me.' Please forgive me."

"Oh, don't worry," Milo said, "Were you talking to Kida?"

"It sounded like her."

"Yes, she was looking for me this morning," then his face grew serious, "Just remember not to tell anyone how I woke you up. That… well, you know what happened…"

His face was turning red, "Just say you woke up on your own. Please promise."

"Why?"

Milo was shaking and talking faster than he usually did. He seemed stressed out.

"Oh, Beatrice. You must have figured this out by now!" then he almost whispered, "She's…. my wife."

The girl gave Milo a look of pity.

"If she knew that I kissed you, our marriage would be ruined! I'm sorry your first days in Atlantis must be spent this way, but it is for a greater good. Can you please promise?"

"Yes, I do. But you should tell her. She seems very nice."

"I don't think that will work. She's was already mad at me."

Beatrice put her hands on her hips and scowled, "The longer you put off telling the truth the bigger your lie will become. Honesty is always the best policy."

"Okay, okay, cliché machine!" Milo started smiling again, "You're starting to sound like my grandfather."

"Good," she said, "If I remember correctly, he was a brilliant archeologist. And that's what I plan to be someday."

"Really?" his face lit up, "I didn't know that. That's wonderful! Where are you studying?"

"Indiana."

They talked for quite a while in Beatrice's room. Milo gave her some advice on careers in archeology. Their chat was long enough to make up for the years they knew each other without having more than a few conversations. Beatrice was still making up a lot of things, which she knew was hypocritical. She hated herself for it, but it was so good to finally be friends with Milo.

"This is nice," Milo said, "Why didn't we ever do this at the Smithsonian?"

"Well, if you want the truth…" Beatrice said, "I was too shy to talk to you."

"You're kidding," Milo laughed, "I was shy too."

They both laughed for a long time. It was funny and sad all at once.

Kida came in, "What's so funny?"

"We were both too shy to talk to each other at the museum!" Milo chuckled.

Kida laughed, but mostly because it seemed utterly ridiculous to her. In Atlantis, as long as one wasn't talking to an outsider, everyone was friendly. Everyone knew everyone. And no one was shy. It didn't seem very useful to be shy, either. So many things about the surface world seemed completely unnecessary.

"Well, I hate to break up your conversation, but lunch will be served in a few minutes."

"Right," Milo got up, "Beatrice, their food is great, but it takes some getting used to. Are you up to it?"

"I think so. I'm excited!"

**XVII**

Milo, Kida, a few royal officials and several healers from the hospital sat down to enjoy dinner together. The healer who worked on Beatrice shook her hand.

"I don't know if you remember me but I'm Kiranakash Wimbush, the healer who cared for you for the last few weeks although Milo was certainly doing that as well."

She turned to Milo and smiled wryly.

"Oh no, not really," Milo tried to be modest.

Beatrice started eating her food. It smelled like seafood. And… tasted like lobster, only more exotic. It was delicious. The whole aroma reminded her of the beaches and ports in Washington. Her and her mom had often played on the beach and watched the fishing boats go by long ago when she was a child. She loved the sea.

"This is delicious!" Beatrice smiled, "Better than any seafood I ate back home in Washington!"

"I'm pleased that you enjoy it!" Kida said.

"Anyway, Kiranakash; thank you for taking care of me."

"You're more than welcome."

"And you too, Milo. I really appreciate it."

Milo smiled, "No problem."

"Everyone here has been so nice to me here. But whatever woke me up, I truly indebted to the person who caused it."

She flashed Milo a feeble smile.

They continued enjoying their delicious feast. Eventually Kiran decided to make an announcement.

"We healers have been discussing your condition all morning, Beatrice, and we have finally decided on a course of action."

Beatrice nodded.

"You must remain here for ten more days, so you may recover and then you may decide whether or not to remain in Atlantis. You are welcome to live here."

"Really?" her eyes lit up. She looked over to Milo and Kida. Milo grinned and nodded. Kida nodded as well but she looked annoyed.

"I would love that," the surface woman said.

"But try to take it easy for a few days," Kiran chuckled.

"Okay," she agreed.


	9. Stories to Tell

**XVIII**

"When you really matter to someone, that person will always make time for you. No excuses, no lies, and no broken promises."

The next day…

Although Milo and Kida were busy teaching a class together, Beatrice was still in good spirits. She decided to explore the city and meet some of the people there.

Meanwhile Milo and Kida had their work cut out for them teaching children about the different systems of government. They started with the system used by Atlantis, monarchy, which ended up using most of their lesson time. It was unusual to have both leaders teaching together, since they were so busy with government business, but they both liked to show how much they cared about the Atlantean children. So they taught a weekly class together.

"And next lesson Milo will teach you, and me, about the other ways a society can be led, like, what was it again?" Kida looked over to Milo, who was erasing the words on his chalkboard.

"Democracy," Milo started waving his chalk eraser around for emphasis, "And there's also dictatorship (another form of autocracy), anarchy, anarchism, socialism and the republic. Not to mention many sub-categories like…"

Smiling, Kida put her hand to his mouth to shut him up, "Well, since we have ten minutes left, I'll reward you for listening so closely with…" she released her grasp of Milo's jaw, "…a story!"

"Great idea!" Milo wheezed.

"This is a famous Atlantean fairytale that I'm sure most of you will know. It is called 'the Sleeping Queen.' Scream if you have heard it!"

All the children screamed. Milo sighed, knowing the story would be mercilessly compared to Beatrice's situation.

Milo said, "I think most of the kids have heard it before. Do you have any other stories to tell?"

Kida grinned, "Stop being such a Sglupp, Milo. You know that one reading of the story will not satisfy them. What do you say, children? Would you like to hear the story?"

They all screamed.

One boy snickered, "Yeah, let's hear about Milo's girlfriend!"

All the children laughed, while Milo froze, petrified, and Kida looked unamused. Suddenly Kida had a suspiciously happy expression on her face. She shoved the story scroll into Milo's hands.

"You will read it to them, Milo," Milo saw fire in her eyes.

He laughed nervously, "Ok. Uh, let's see."

"Read!" Kida yelled.

"Right," he started reading nervously, "The king and queen of Atlantis had a daughter, the princess of Atlantis, so they had a party to celebrate her birth. Since the story took place before the time of the Great Flood, the King of the neighbouring Kingdom in the West was there with his son. He ruled over what would now be the Americas. That's where I come from," he pointed to the United States on a map in the classroom to show the children.

"The two Kings arranged for their children to wed when the Atlantean princess turned eighteen and became queen. It was a strategic plan to form an alliance between the two kingdoms. Nothing to do with love, I'm afraid."

A few girls sighed in disappointment.

"Then three spell-casting women arrived late for the party and gave the princess their gifts. The first gave her beauty,"

He looked at Kida lovingly. She beamed back, forgetting her anger.

"The second gave her strength, and the third was interrupted mid-spell by an evil witch who came to the party uninvited. Angry that no one had invited her, she put a curse on the Atlantean princess."

"'On her eighteenth birthday that brat will touch a starfish full of venom and die,'" Milo gave the witch an evil voice which made the children laugh.

"With that, she laughed mercilessly and left," Milo mimicked the queen's evil cackle, and more giggles erupted throughout the class.

"But the third lady had not given her gift yet. She changed the curse so that the princess could be saved from her lethal fate with a kiss from her true love."

The children snickered again. But who could blame them? This story was like a portrayal of Kida in Beatrice's situation. Why did Kida have to pick this story of all the others they could have told?

Milo tried to ignore them and continue the story, "From birth to age eighteen, the girl was raised by the three spell-casting women. They gave her a different name and didn't tell her about her royal lineage. They raised her in what would now be Europe so the Evil Witch couldn't find them. Here is Europe on the map," he pointed to the map again, "It was actually quite close to Atlantis, compared to other countries."

Some children nodded.

"Her parents were very sad to see their only child go. But before they knew it, their child was eighteen and she had become very beautiful. Her parents had ordered for all the starfish in the kingdom to be destroyed. On her birthday, the princess met the prince who was on holiday in Europe and they fell in love, neither knowing the other's title or name. They agreed to meet each other in the evening at the princess' house. When she told her guardians about him, they told her about her royal life and that she was engaged to the prince of the Americas. They made her leave her home to avoid seeing the man ever again."

One little girl in the front row piped up, "But that guy was actually the prince, right?"

Milo chuckled, "You'll see soon enough. Since the princess had to marry the prince and become queen on her eighteenth birthday, they all went to the castle where the princess was born. When she reached the castle, right after she had been crowned queen, the evil witch caught the newly crowned queen alone and gave her a starfish as a pet for her birthday. The queen took it from the witch's hands and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Her last thought was, 'So that was why that woman was wearing gloves. I knew something was fishy!'"

Kida stifled her laughter. Milo was a great storyteller. He was much better than her at making the children laugh. She was impressed.

"The three spell-casters found out about this and decided to put the entire city to sleep with fairy dust, at least until they solved the problem. Many men from other kingdoms tried to save the queen and defeat the evil witch, but every one of them died trying. Even when they managed to sneak past the queen, their kisses did not wake her up."

It sounded all too familiar.

"Soon the prince found out what was going on and that the girl he had met was the princess so he tried to battle the witch, who was guarding the sleeping queen. She was a difficult opponent, but with the help of the three fairies, he defeated her."

"Yaaaaay!" the children cheered.

"The prince found the queen and kissed her gently."

Milo started to blush, "The queen awoke immediately, because he was her true love."

He paused, thinking about Beatrice. Was she his true love? He did feel for her, but he loved Kida much more. She was his wife. This was ridiculous! A fairytale dictating who he should be with!

Kida tapped Milo on the shoulder, awaking him from his thoughts, "Milo? Is something wrong?"

"No, no," he said, embarrassed for having drifted off, "Anyway everyone else woke up and everything went back to normal except for the queen's life. She married her true love, the king."

Milo stopped talking. The story was over. But he added his own special surface touch, "And they lived happily ever after."

Milo smiled at Kida and she smiled back. The children applauded. He had not heard the Atlantean version of this ancient fairytale. It seemed so similar to Beatrice's situation, which made it even harder to decide whether to confess to Kida.

"Wonderful, Milo," Kida did not look angry anymore, "But what did that last phrase mean?"

"Oh, that is a surface expression," he explained, "It means… their lives were happy until they died. They put it at the end of every fairytale on the surface."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"And at the beginning they say 'Once upon a time…' which means 'one time…'" They started to walk back to the palace.

They were silent until they arrived at the palace. Kida stopped Milo and turned him toward her, kissing him so passionately that several passers-by gasped at the sight. She eventually released him, leaving him gasping for breath, but wanting more.

Breathless, he said, "What was that for? Not that it wasn't enjoyable."

He leaned in to kiss again, but she stopped him, "It's because you're such a perfect husband," her eyes welled up with joyful tears, "You're so honest and you love me so much. You'd do anything for me, just because you love me. I love you so much, Milo."

Then she kissed him again and they split up to get their work done.

Milo felt even guiltier for receiving all that praise without telling her why he didn't deserve it. She loved him so much and he paid her back by lying to her.

"That's it! I'm telling her tonight!" Milo said to himself.

"Great!" Beatrice said as she walked toward him.

Milo jumped in surprise.

"I was wondering if you ever would. Did I scare you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Milo took a few deep breaths, "No, I'm fine, really. And, yes, I am going to tell her tonight. If I still have the nerve by then."

"You can do it! I believe in you!"

"Thanks, Beatrice. I've got to confess before things get really ugly! Wish me luck!"

With that Milo attempted a courageous march to the Throne Room.

Beatrice was admittedly worried about how Kida would react, but she was confident in her first impressions of people. She was a reasonable person. They only kissed once and it was to save her life, like mouth-to-mouth. Besides she missed most of it due to being asleep and she couldn't enjoy the rest because she didn't realize what was happening until it was over. How she wished he would kiss her again to refresh her memory!

"Forget it, Beatrice," she thought to herself.

**XIX**

When Milo reached his royal chambers after dinner and a long day of work he was ambushed by Kida's embrace. The moment he opened the door she pulled him toward her and kissed him, desperately and forcefully. When she let go, she whispered, "I love you so much, Milo."

"I love you, too, Kida," he said, "I hate to ruin the mood, but there's something I really need to tell you."

"Of course, Milo. I have something to tell you as well."

"Well I—"

But she cut him off by putting her hand on his mouth. It was a cute habit of hers.

"Milo," she looked very excited, "I want to have children with you! Do you also want to have children?"

He was speechless. And not just because her hand was on his mouth. They hadn't made love yet in their marriage and already she was suggesting that they become parents? It seemed too good to be true. Having children with a goddess like Kida! He knew it was happening, but it was still hard to believe. He forgot about Beatrice and his confession. Milo was ecstatic.

"Yes!" he cried, "Yes, yes, yes! I love you!"

"Milo, you make me so happy…"

They kissed again.

"But what did you want to say?"

"That you are the most beautiful woman in the world."

Milo didn't have the heart to confess to her after what she had said about having kids, so he gave into her passion and they made love that night for the first time.

It would have been amazing, but Milo could not enjoy it. He knew he didn't deserve it.

After they had done the deed, Kida fell asleep, exhausted. Milo laid awake, eyes wide open, unable to sleep. He felt awful. Sick to his stomach.

This wasn't how he had imagined things at all. Their first time, and he couldn't enjoy it because he was a liar and a terrible husband. His conscience chastised him all through the night. Milo wondered if he would ever have a good night's sleep again…


	10. Evicted

**XX**

The ten days had passed and soon enough it had been two weeks since Beatrice woke up. She had become healthy and fit from her time in Atlantis and she had made many friends and learned much about their culture. And yet, with every passing day she had grown more worried for Milo, who had still not confessed to Kida. As Beatrice had said, his lie had become bigger and uglier every day, like a cancer. He kept trying to tell her, but the situation never seemed right.

Despite the tense situation, Beatrice and Milo had become fast friends and frequently discussed archeology and linguistics. It made Kida jealous.

That night, after dinner, Kida and Milo walked back to their royal suite. As always, they were exhausted from their work that day. The moon was nearly their only light.

"Milo," Kida sighed, "About Beatrice…"

Milo didn't like her tone. It was her bad news tone, "Yes?"

"She's been here for more than a month, and I know that healer said that she could stay here if she wanted, but the truth is…"

Kida stopped Milo and looked him in the eye, "I don't want her to stay."

Milo was shocked and disappointed, although he knew Kida didn't like Beatrice that much, "But Kida. Why?"

"Why not? She's not useful to us and she probably has family on the surface."

Milo considered arguing with her. Those were her politically correct reasons. Her real motives had more to do with jealousy. But it was his fault and if he wanted to confess to Kida, he would have to avoid fighting with her. Besides, Beatrice's family was probably devastated at this point. It wasn't fair to them.

"You're right. I'll tell her that she has to leave the day after tomorrow."

Kida was confused, but pleased, "What? Ok."

"Because you know what tomorrow is…"

"Our anniversary?"

"Yup! And we don't want that to be upstaged by anything!"

Kida smiled. This had gone so much better than she thought it would, "I'm so glad I married you!"

**XXI**

Later that night…

"Beatrice," Milo said as he knocked on her door that night.

She opened her door. It was nearly midnight. Milo looked miserable.

He hesitated to speak, "Kida wants you to leave," he sighed deeply, "in two days."

"What? Why? Did you finally tell her?"

"No," Milo sighed, "But I have to stop arguing with her. I'm so sorry Beatrice."

He was on the verge of tears, "Maybe it's for the best. We shouldn't keep you away from your family and your career."

Beatrice frowned, "My mother is dead and my father has effectively disowned me. But I do still have a chance at a career if I work hard enough."

"I'm sorry. That's the right way to approach it."

They were silent for a while.

"So are you okay with this? It's hard for me too," he stared at the floor, trying not to reveal the feelings in his eyes.

Beatrice thought.

"It's the greatest place I've ever been. But I can handle it. I'm a big girl. I will miss it though…"

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Milo," she said shyly.

"I'm sure Kida would let you visit sometimes."

"That would be lovely," she knew that would never happen. The girl tried not to cry.

"Oh, and if you want, you can take some of my archeology books to help you out."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course! I don't use them that much anymore," he shrugged.

They both laughed.

Milo sighed, "Well thank you for always being so reasonable. See you tomorrow."

He started to leave. But Beatrice couldn't let him leave yet. She had to tell him how she felt about him. They only had one day left together now. Even if it was inconvenient, he had to know.

"Wait Milo!"

"Yes?" he looked at her expectantly.

She looked at his round glasses, neat hair and slim body. It was suddenly so intimidating to simply look at him, to be talking to him. It was like he was an actor from a moving picture. How did she deserve him? How could she expect him to love her? It was impossible. You could read it on his face. She couldn't tell him.

"Um, when can I pick up those books tomorrow?"

"Oh," he said. Did she hear disappointment in his voice?

"Late afternoon, early evening?"

"Perfect. Good night," she closed the door.

Another missed opportunity. But it was stupid. He'd be angry that she brought it up so late, if he even returned her feelings… And it was so odd and inappropriate. He'd probably be mildly disgusted.

Breathless and full of strange feelings, her sleep was troubled.


	11. Jet Black

Author's note: This story was highly inspired by Imogen Heap's "Speak for Yourself" album, and, as a result, it is a great musical accompaniment to this story. It's usually what I have been listening to while writing this story. Have a listen while you read. :)

**XXII**

It was Kida and Milo's turn to teach again. As promised, Milo taught the children about democracy, dictatorship, oligarchy, anarchy, anarchism and other forms of government. As the linguist had expected, several children were curious as to why they didn't use democracy, which seemed fairer than a monarchy. Milo timidly explained that these were new systems for the Atlanteans and they had never been used in Atlantis. He suggested that Atlantis might become a democracy soon and Kida agreed. She seemed unusually excited and nervous today. Maybe it was their anniversary that was making her act this way.

Ten minutes before the end of class, Kida opened a ratty old brown box. She produced a thick and dusty book box labelled "Anthology of Fairy Tales," out of which she pulled a deep blue book with gold-lined pages.

"Story time, children!" Kida bellowed, "After all your hard work you deserve a treat."

The children fizzled with excitement as they paid much closer attention to this part of the lesson.

"I mailed Milo's friend Whitmore a letter asking him for some surface fairy tales and the package arrived today... finally," Kida said.

Milo was surprised, "What? But you never told me..."

"I wanted to surprise you," she interrupted, smiling, "So today I will read the story of Jet Black, the only Atlantean in the history of Atlantis who possessed black hair instead of white."

"This story is from the surface?" Milo was skeptical.

"Well, I..." Kida smiled nervously, "There were a few changes. Anyway, let us begin. Milo, this time I will read if you don't mind."

"That's fine with me," Milo said, breathing a sigh of relief.

As Kida told the children her unique version of Snow White, in her dramatic, playful storytelling persona, Milo pretended to pay attention, nodding occasionally. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked longingly out the window, wondering if he might see Beatrice. He hadn't slept last night, eyes pried open as he thought of Beatrice leaving forever in a submarine pod, tears threatening to escape the prison of his eyes. The strong, white light of the moon cast itself onto his blankets and his skinny, stick-like fingers. Milo didn't have the energy to be there, teaching a lesson, or doing any of his royal duties for that matter.

When the story had nearly finished, Kida paused to cough.

"Actually, Milo, I think my throat is getting sore," Kida cleared her throat, "Could you take over?"

Milo was staring at the wall at the back of the classroom, his eyes cold and empty.

"Milo?"

He shook off his lonely thoughts and answered her, "Yes?"

"Could you continue the story for me? I'm getting a sore throat."

Every bone in his body demanded that he throw the book all the way up to Iceland, so Milo of course replied, "Absolutely, darling."

"The Prince knocked at the door of the dwarves' house and..." he paused.

Milo realized where the story was going. The witch poisons Snow White or Jet Black or whoever she is and she falls unconscious. She is then saved by her true love with a kiss, just like in Sleeping Beauty. Was this some kind of obligatory aspect of fairytales, like magic or talking animal sidekicks?

"The Dwarves answered the door, telling the Prince that Snow White, sorry, I mean Jet Black, was poisoned and now she is dead. The Prince knew what he had to do to save her. He leaned toward Jet Black... and he..." Milo paused, feeling the stares of everyone around him, "The Prince leaned toward Jet Black and he... he... he leaned toward Jet Black and... he..."

With a reverberating thump, the book fell to the ground and Milo walked out of the room. He turned back and quietly closed the door. And then he ran down the hall, out of the school.

"Milo?"

Kida opened the door, ran out of the classroom and yelled after Milo, "Wait! What's wrong, Milo?"

But he was already down the hallway and almost out the front door. Kida knew she wasn't allowed to leave the children alone, so she went back to the classroom and finished the story without Milo.

**XXIII**

Kida's day was jammed full of commitments, as it was every day. The next time she would see Milo that day was in the evening, at their public anniversary celebration. That is, if he even decided to attend. Imagine if he didn't, leaving her standing alone in front of everyone in the kingdom. It would be humiliating. His leaving in the middle of her story was embarrassing enough. The children would surely tell their parents. As embarrassing as that was, more than anything she was worried about Milo.

"What did I say to upset him? Why did he leave?" she thought to herself as she walked to a meeting with her advisors, "Oh Milo. Please be okay."

Kida wished she could wrench herself away from all her responsibilities and just find Milo so that they could talk.

**XXIV**

As soon as Milo was out of the school, he had no idea where to go next. But he couldn't stop. He had to keep running. So he just ran to his royal suite. They wouldn't bother him if he said he was sick. He almost sprinted to his bedchambers and when he arrived he slammed the door behind him and locked it.

Milo sat on the bed and caught his breath. Then he spread himself out on it like a blanket, staring up at the ceiling. The class was probably over by now. He rolled over and looked at the sundial beside his bed. If he left right now he would get to his meeting five minutes late. He was not going to the meeting. They were probably depending on him, but he was not going to go. It made him feel tense, not going to a meeting, but it was so nice to just lie there mid-day and to think of nothing and to do absolutely nothing. And, most importantly, to talk to no one. Thinking of nothing was a calming but difficult thing for Milo to do at the moment. Phrases floated in his mind, ruining the pure white of nothingness.

_"True love's first kiss..."_

_"Happily ever after..."_

_"Once upon a time..."_

_"The prince saved the princess..."_

_"True love."_

"No!" Milo screamed. He tried to block out all of the fairy tale expressions by plugging his ears, but that just made them louder.

"I am sick of fairy tales!" he yelled.

_"I don't want her to stay..."_

_"I'll miss you too, Milo..."_

Milo buried his head in his pillow and cried like a child.


	12. The Visit

**XXV**

An hour later Milo was still feeling awful, although he had nearly stopped crying. He suddenly heard a knock on the door. He quickly wiped his eyes and opened it. It was a servant.

"Your grace. Sorry to disturb you but there is a guest here to see you."

The king felt his body tense, "I'm sorry but I'm not feeling well. Could you tell them to come back later?"

The servant nodded, "Sorry to hear about that, your majesty. But I'm sure she'll understand."

"She?" Milo asked, "Who is it, out of curiosity?"

"Beatrice Wilde, sir."

"She must be here for my archeology books. Okay, never mind, send her in."

Milo decided that it was time to face his fears, starting with Beatrice. They met in the living room section of the royal suite.

"Milo, you look upset. Are you feeling quite alright?" Beatrice asked. Milo knew she was wondering if he had been crying.

"Oh no! I'm fine. I'm just nervous for tonight."

"Oh, right," she smiled, "Your anniversary. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thank you," he said. Some anniversary it had turned out to be so far.

He gestured to the study, "This is where I keep my good archeology books. Take whatever you want, but just let me check over your final choices before you go, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks again," she said. The spacious room had a forest green colour scheme, with plush green armchairs and couches as well as a few small desks. It was a jungle of knowledge, with a bookcase that took up two of the four walls and books stacked everywhere. Obviously, Milo and Kida had run out of room for the books and had begun to simply place them anywhere where they could find free space. There were a few small windows on the walls, but since it was evening, three candles glowed softly, arbitrarily placed throughout the room, providing a dim light. A large wooden desk stood in the corner of the room, hidden by countless books and papers. Milo had begun to scour his small library for archeology books, sliding back and forth on a tall mahogany stepladder.

"Your study is incredible. You're very generous," Beatrice said.

"Generous?" Milo stopped searching through the books and began to tremble, "How can I be generous if I'm not even honest to people?"

As if he couldn't control himself, he started crying again.

They moved toward each other and Beatrice embraced him, "Oh, Milo. What's bothering you?"

"Everything," he sniffled, "You were right. A lie can get so ugly if you leave it for a long time."

She smirked, "I hate to say I told you so, but," she chuckled, "I told you so."

"Ha ha, very funny. Would you believe me if I said I'm going to confess tonight?"

"Nope," she answered quickly.

"I know I keep saying I will and then I never follow through, but I think I can do it!"

"Whatever you say," Beatrice said sarcastically, as she started perusing Milo's bookshelves.

Milo sat in one of the green armchairs in his study and watched Beatrice pick out the books she wanted. Occasionally he would point one out to her or tell her that the book she was looking at was off-limits.

"Oh, wow," Beatrice examined a red book that was slightly tattered.

"Your grandfather. He published a book?"

"A few, actually," Milo took a closer look at the book she was holding, "'Atlantis: Iceland's Best Kept Secret.' That was his only book on Atlantis. It took him years to find a publisher for it, even with three other books out already. The book meant so much to him. His finest work."

"I can tell that book is very special to you," she paused, "Oh, look, another of his books," she looked at it, "'Obscure Lost Civilizations.'"

"That was his first book. I wasn't even born yet. I think that was the year my parents got married."

"It looks fascinating."

Milo said, "You can have it, if you want. Maybe I have a bias but I'd say it's pretty definitive."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he smiled at her, "think of it as a parting gift, to remind you of me. I'm really going to miss you."

Beatrice's heart beat twice as fast and she started to blush. She couldn't believe Milo has just said something that nice about her. She wondered if he truly meant it.

"I'll... I'll miss you too," Beatrice wanted to lean in for a kiss, but she stopped herself. It wasn't right.

"You've all done so much for me. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead," she looked him in the eye, "I will never forget you."

"Thank you," he almost cried again and then tried to appear more calm, "Water?"

"Sure."

Milo brought out two glass goblets full of water. Suddenly he heard the low moan of ceremonial drums. Then, the squeak of brass instruments joining the drums. It was some kind of official ceremony. Why hadn't Kida told him? Then he remembered.

It was as if all the air had left his lungs. His hands were suddenly too weak to hold the goblets , so they fell to the floor and smashed into hundreds of pieces.

"Milo? What is it?"

"Kida is going to kill me. Oh my God. Kida is going to kill me," he whispered with a fearful expression on his face, "Our anniversary. It's happening right now. I'm half an hour late."

Without saying more than that, Milo scrambled to get dressed in his fancy toga and cleaned himself up as well as he could.

Right before he ran out the door, Beatrice stopped him, "Milo, I won't be here that much longer. I'll probably come to your celebration in an hour or so. Thanks again and don't worry. She'll forgive you!"

"No problem! Goodbye!" he ran toward the royal ballroom as fast as he could, muttering, "Beatrice, you have no idea."


	13. Broken Promises

This story is nearing its end and I think I can confidently say that the ending to "Wilde Horses Couldn't Stop Me!" will be posted within one or two weeks. However, between the ending and this chapter there are still several chapters to be posted. Basically, expect a slew of chapters in the coming days. :)

**XXVI**

The King of Atlantis pushed through the crowd. They glared at him and many people started to whisper. Nearly everyone in Atlantis was there. The ballroom was completely packed. He saw Kida sitting on the throne, smiling and stalling the officials. The throne beside her was painfully empty. It was clear she had spotted Milo, because she had immediately dropped her fake smile. She stood up and attempted to smile again as she waited for him to make his way up to the royal platform. Milo awkwardly climbed the steps and tried to stand beside her as if he was right on time. Everyone was staring at the awkward couple, whispering.

"Come with me," she whispered. Then she raised her voice to speak to her subjects, "Attention, my beloved guests! I must excuse myself and King Milo for a moment. Please continue to enjoy yourselves!"

They walked silently until they were alone in an unoccupied sitting room. Right after she closed the doors, she slapped him in the face. Hard.

For a minute the only noise was an echo of the sound of the slap. Milo stared at her, open-mouthed. His face stung.

"How could you?" she whispered, horrified and full of hate.

"I'm so sorry!" he said.

"It is our anniversary. The public celebration. And you came late!"

"I'm sorry!"

"As King, you can't come late to any public celebration. But you chose to come late," her voice grew icier, "to our anniversary. Now I truly know how much this marriage means to you!"

"Kida, I love you," Milo pleaded.

"No, you don't," she screamed, "you love Beatrice!"

"That's not true. Kida, you're the only one I love."

"How can you tell me such a lie? I've already been embarrassed by you enough. And what were you doing that made you late? You were probably with Beatrice, weren't you?"

"No!" he said, but then he realized he was actually with Beatrice, "Yes."

Kida smirked bitterly, "Of course. Who else would you be with? It's not like you have a wife."

"But we weren't... I was just giving her some books."

"A likely story."

"And now I know that giving Beatrice some of your books is much more important than our meaningless anniversary."

"No, it isn't. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Milo got down on his knees, "Please forgive me."

She stared at him for a while with a strange expression on her face, "I was once in love with you. I had no idea how empty your love would prove to be. I will **never** forgive you."

"Kida..." he pleaded.

"Don't talk to me. Besides, we can't ignore our guests," her voice was cold and emotionless, "You will not talk to me until the end of the evening. We can engage in trivial chatter, but I will not discuss anything that we have just discussed. We will pretend to be happy and in love. In exchange, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself. I will speak with you in our royal chambers right after the celebration is over."

"I guess that's fair," Milo said.

"It's more than fair," Kida said, "Now let's go pretend we're happy."

After dinner, which had already started when Milo arrived, Kida invited a guest speaker to the stage to perform a speech.

"After this lovely meal, I would like to announce with great joy that the speech-maker for our anniversary will be a famous Atlantean writer. Probably one of the most eloquent Atlanteans, he will share with us his thoughts on love."

Milo noticed that she said the word "love" with a sarcastic tone of voice. He knew he would have to do a lot to win her back.

"Please welcome... Moby Walereon!"

Moby Walereon was a skinny man in his sixties or seventies. He had short salt-and-pepper hair and a short white beard. His eyes were squinted and strained to see the numerous people in front of him. Dressed in a well-worn blue toga, he looked happy and cheery.

"Hello everyone! How are you doing?"

They all cheered.

"I am infinitely happy to be speaking at the royal anniversary. I remember when Milo first came here. We all hated the outsiders. It turns out we had good reason because the man called Rourke wanted to steal the crystal. But we were mistaken with Milo and his friends. Milo ended up saving Atlantis from the evil man on his team. We were mistrusting and fearful of the outsiders, while Kida led them right to us at great personal risk. She had much more faith and trust than any of us and, more importantly, love. This brings me to my main topic. Love. Love isn't just romantic love. Love is about family, friends, people you care about and share things with. It doesn't even have to be about people. It can be about things you are passionate about, like writing, for me. I love to write! Milo was passionate about Atlantis."

He looked back to smile at Milo, who smiled back at him.

"But presumably everyone loves their husband or wife and children the most. Their family. This I cannot deny," he said, looking directly at his wife who was sitting in the audience.

"I think there are four things that make up what we call love: passion, respect, trust and honesty."

Milo suddenly noticed Beatrice was now in the audience. He flashed her a subtle smile that Kida didn't notice. Beatrice smiled back. She was wearing a purple dress that made her almost glow. Beatrice was gold amongst the pyrite that night. It was hard for him to focus on Moby's speech. He couldn't take his eyes off of her until her heard the next part of the speech.

"And then there is honesty," Milo turned to the speaker suddenly, "The most important component of love. You need honesty in order to have a trusting relationship. How can you trust someone who lies to you? If you want a loving relationship you need to have the courage to tell your spouse everything. No secrets. If you're a murderer, an adulterer, a violent person, no matter how horrible your secret is, you have to tell her. If you don't it will just get worse and worse. If you continue to tell the truth, someone will come along who will love you no matter what. So what if you once stole money from your grandparents? At least you were honest. Without honesty, you can't have trust. And without trust you can't have love."

_"At least you were honest," _the words repeated constantly in Milo's head.

"I need to be honest," he thought to himself.

"I'll admit something right now to show how much I love all of you. Something I have only told my wife, my true love."

He paused to think, "Ah yes. I used to really like dressing up as a woman. In fact, I still do it sometimes."

The audience stifled their laughter.

"Go ahead... laugh! I don't care."

They all started to laugh and he started laughing with them.

"All of you! Every single one of you has a secret. Is anyone brave enough to admit it?"

Suddenly a teenaged girl stood up and screamed, "I'm not a virgin!"

Her mother, who was sitting beside her looked angry, and she was about to have a word with her daughter outside when Moby looked at her and said, "What about you? What's your dirty secret?"

"I... steal shiny things."

A large amount of silverware from dinner came tumbling out of her dress as she stood up. The royal guards were about to arrest her when the leader said, "I hate my job. I wish I had a job as a chef. It's my dream."

"I'm attracted to men," said a man in the back.

"I really can't predict the future," said a soothsayer.

The chef stood up from his table, "A lot of this food was accidentally dropped on the floor."

"I cheated on my wife," said a man in the middle of the room.

Milo smiled, encouraged by the man's confession.

"I killed my son," said an old woman at the front of the room. The people in her vicinity moved away from her nervously.

"I kissed Beatrice!" Milo yelled. He put his hand on his mouth immediately after.

The loud and boisterous room gasped and fell silent. Beatrice looked worried. Some children snickered. The speaker's smile dissipated and he turned to Milo and Kida. Kida was frozen in disbelief.

"Is this true?"

"Yes, but I was only trying to wake her up. I swear. And it was only once. I might as well tell everyone the rest," he sighed.

"I moved Beatrice from the hospital wing to a room in the royal chamber because I found out that while she was in the hospital, several men raped her. They bribed the-" suddenly his voice became even more shaky because at the back of the room he could see the man who had taken the bribes, "night-time guard."

He noticed the man was leaving. Was he going to kill him? After he had finally confessed to Kida?

"And that's it. I feel stupid for leaving it so long. I'm sorry, Kida."

He tried to give her a hug but she dodged it and he fell to the ground. He drew back.

"I've told you everything and I've apologized but you still hate me?"

"Yes," she said bitterly, "Milo, I think you should go."

"What?"

"Get out!" she yelled.

Milo left the room quickly, knowing arguing was no good.

Kida stared at a space full of silent, stunned guests.

"Well, why are you all still here?" her voice was sad and defeated, "You are dismissed!"

With that she stormed out of the room. Where could she go? Who could she talk to? Her parents were dead. Her husband was with another woman. But she still had her sister. She went to her sister's wing in the palace.

Meanwhile Beatrice tried to follow Milo but he was quite far ahead of her amidst the crowded dark corridor of the candlelit common herd. There were hundreds of people trying to talk to Milo. Milo just ran faster to try to avoid them and their probing questions. Soon neither Beatrice nor the flock of curious Atlanteans could find Milo. Beatrice went back to her room, running away from her own annoying flock of curious Atlanteans.

**XXVII**

The king looked all around his royal chambers, but Kida was not there. He didn't dare ask anyone where she was or they would begin to ask him their horrible questions, so he started to discreetly look around the city for his wife.

He didn't make it out of the royal wing before he was punched in the gut. As he fell to the floor, clutching his stomach, he met the face of his attacker. It was the hospital security guard. Milo was dragged into his own royal chamber and the guard locked all the doors. He bent down to meet Milo's face again. His face was so close to Milo's they were almost touching and he looked angry. Angry yet calm and collected. Milo could smell rotted fish on the man's breath.

"We had a deal."

Milo swallowed, "But I had to tell Ki-"

He smacked Milo across the face so hard that he almost fainted.

"We had a deal. You think I'm an imbecile?"

"No!" he gasped.

The guard slapped Milo again, "You think I'm an idiot?"

"No! Please stop!" he was pleading now, shielding his head with his arms.

"I never forget when people break their promises!"

He punched Milo in the nose, making the man scream in agony. Blood leaked rapidly from his nose and onto his clothing. The guard drew a revolver and aimed it between Milo's eyes. Milo heard an ominous click and froze, absolutely terrified.

"What do you want?" he squeaked. His voice was distorted by tears, "Please don't kill them."

"I love these devices," the man laughed ruthlessly, "Point it at anyone and they will promise everything they own. I just want one thing. You have to tell everyone that you were mentally unwell yesterday and that everything you confessed except the kiss were the ravings of a very deranged man. And you will never mention what happened to Beatrice again, especially to her. You will personally tell her that it never happened."

The king started, "But that's not fair to-" but the guard cut him off by shoving the revolver into Milo's mouth.

"Now I'm going to tell you again. You were crazy today, and you will never mention what I did in the hospital again," the guard pulled the gun out of Milo's mouth and waited for an answer.

"What did you do in the hospital?" Milo weakly indulged the guard.

"Exactly."

The corrupt security guard seemed satisfied.

"Where did you get that revolver?" Milo was suspicious.

"Oh, this?" he aimed it at Milo casually, making the young man jump back in shock, "Your leader Rourke accidentally left some behind."

Milo scowled, thinking of Rourke and his ruthless agenda. Chuckling, the guard abruptly grabbed Milo's arms to lift him up. Then he pushed him down the hallway.

"Get out of here, before I really use this gun."

Milo scampered away, in pain, but too terrified to let it slow him down.

**XXVIII**

It was midnight and Beatrice had retreated to her room. She heard a knock at her door. Suspicious it was someone who wanted to ask her about Milo, she asked, "Who is it?"

There was a weak noise on the other side of the door. She just barely heard it, "It's Milo."

"Oh my goodness!" she rushed to open the door. After a few steps, Milo collapsed into Beatrice's arms, covered in his own blood, eyes half open.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" the king tried to lift himself up but he was too weak, "On second thought, maybe I'll just rest a while."

"You're going to rest for a lot longer than that if someone doesn't look at those bruises."

Using all of her strength Beatrice dragged Milo over to her bed and lifted him onto it so he was lying down face-up. She left to get a healer and came back five minutes later.

"A nurse is on her way here. Or do they call them healers now?"

"Yeah, they do," Milo smiled, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Your hospitality."

"Oh. Not at all," she dabbed at the blood coming from his mouth and nose, "I'm useless except for wiping away blood. I hope that healer arrives soon."

"Beatrice."

"Yes?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you what happened, but I have to, because it wouldn't be fair otherwise. But I'm not going to tell anyone else or I'll be..." he paused, searching for the right phrase, "in trouble. Can you promise that you won't tell anyone else?"

"You can trust me. After all, I kept your first promise."

"You certainly did," he sighed, "I really hope Kida will forgive me."

"She has to. But what happened?"

"Okay. I'm going to tell the healer something different if she asks, but several men... had sex with you while you were asleep."

Beatrice's eyes started to water a bit, "I had hoped it wasn't true."

She wanted to look down. She wanted to find out what had been done to her. Beatrice didn't feel different, but she wanted to kill those despicable bastards.

"How could they?" she whispered, "How could they do it?"

"Beatrice, I'm so sorry. I wish I'd known about it sooner. That was why I put your room in the royal chambers and I fired that corrupt guard."

"Thank you for that, at least. But what does that have to do with your injuries?"

"The guard was there when I..." he winced, "confessed. So he tracked me down and beat me up and then he made me promise to say that my confession was raving, except for... the kiss and to never tell anyone about his crimes again. And now here I am."

He looked frightened, "I have no idea what to say to the healer."

"That's terrible," she concluded, "I wish I could give him a nice swift kick in the gonads, pardon my french. Why do people do such horrible things?"

"I have no idea. It makes me mad, but I'm going to do as he says."

"But then he'll get away with what he did!"

"Exactly. But he'll kill me if I reveal him."

Suddenly they heard a knock at their door.


	14. Recovery

**XXIX**

Carefully avoiding the royal suite and Milo, Kida navigated her way through the crowds and into her sister's chambers. After only a few knocks on the door, Kida's sister closed the door and greeted her with a warm, all-encompassing hug.

"Kida, I'm so sorry. I'm here for you. Everything's going to be okay," she stroked Kida's hair gently and half-whispered her words, "he's a jerk. That's all he is; just a jerk."

Kida started to cry and her voice was muffled when she said, "I don't want him to find me. Let's go to our secret place."

"Whatever you want, Kida," her sister released Kida from her embrace and they left the suite, heading for the throne room.

Nevagakash Nedakh was twenty years younger than Kida and second in line to the throne after Kida and Milo unless they were to produce an heir. Without her sister and Milo, Kida would never have been able to handle the crushing news of her father's death. Neva was not only her sister, but her best friend.

Slightly taller than Kida, she had long full white hair, dark green eyes, a curvy figure and full, fleshy lips. Her black eyebrows were usually pointing down toward her upturned nose because her face was perpetually locked in a scowl, except around Kida. She was an angry and intimidating woman but fiercely loyal to her sister.

Many Atlantean men had made attempts to woo her but she was very picky when choosing suitors and had only been in a relationship with two men. Fighting was her favourite thing to do but there were rarely any opportunities to fight in the peaceful city of Atlantis, so she would often act combative in order to fight people. Unlike the other Atlanteans, she had never approved of Kida's union with Milo.

Once they had reached the throne room, Neva picked up one of the books that Milo had stashed next to his throne. Milo used his small pile of books to entertain himself when his royal duties were at a lull. Neva chucked Great Expectations at a piece of wall above the doorway to the throne room.

"Damn, I missed," Neva growled, "let's try Paradise Lost."

She threw the second book at the area above the doorway and suddenly several bright blue floor tiles in the middle of the throne room began to lower themselves slowly. Neva hastily returned the books to Milo's stack and then both women stepped onto the lowering platform of floor tiles. Beneath the throne room stood a large cavernous room which looked menacing in the darkness. The platform eventually became level with the floor, leaving a white square beacon above Kida and Neva. The sisters stepped off of the square of blue tiles, which immediately moved up to re-join the throne room floor.

Kida lit several candles which revealed a large, luxurious room with carpeted walls which was nearly the same size as the spacious throne room. Each carpet was like a tapestry, with intricate designs depicting scenes from the history of Atlantis, including the Great Flood. Milo would have been fascinated by these tapestries if he were aware of them. There were a few comfortable chairs lining the perimeter of the chamber and in one of the corners of the room stood a table covered in goblets and various Atlantean alcoholic drinks, mostly wine. On the side of the room toward the thrones above there was a large, comfortable bed with fluffy blue pillows and purple linens.

Some hot springs occupied the middle of the room with an area slightly larger than the bed. Kida, Neva and their father Kashekim had built the room more than a thousand years ago. Before the chamber was built, Kida had noticed an unusual warmth in the middle of the throne room and upon further investigation, the King and his daughters had discovered some hot springs directly below the throne room. They decided to build a chamber around the hot springs. It was a difficult project that took many years, since they were inexperienced with construction and all of their building was done overnight and in secret, but it was their pride and joy and it built a secret bond between the three royals. Steam rose from the hot springs in a delightful mist.

"Do you think Milo has any idea?" Kida asked, half nervous, half joking.

"That idiot? Please," Neva laughed, lightening the mood slightly.

Kida would have usually become upset with her sister for calling Milo an idiot, but this evening she didn't seem to mind. In fact, it made her feel more relaxed.

"Well the tiles that lead to this room are the only ones that are blue while the rest are green," Kida persisted.

"Don't worry. He probably just thinks it's part of the design," Neva said, "I mean, how likely is it that that wimp violently throws objects at that exact place, especially his precious books?"

"That's true."

Both sisters stripped to their undergarments and entered the hot springs. The water was piping hot but comfortable enough to swim or bathe. It was like getting into a bed with blankets that were immediately warm.

"_Nish*_, Neva. I have no idea what to do about Milo..." Kida sighed sadly.

"Do you want my opinion?" Neva said gingerly.

"I know what your opinion is, sister. End the relationship; tell him it's over. But I can't do that," Kida's eyes became teary.

"You still love him," Neva stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes."

Neva sighed and frowned, "I still don't know what you see in him. Sure, he's from the surface, which is, different, I guess. And he saved Atlantis, but he had a lot of help from his friends... I'm just saying he's not that special. Not to mention the fact that he essentially cheated on you."

Kida's face contorted in grief, "He did, didn't he?"

Neva pulled Kida toward her and hugged her again. After a few moments of near silence and Kida's sniffling, Neva stood up and pushed herself onto the floor above the hot springs.

"Kida, what you need is a drink, or twenty," Neva said, "You'll forget about this entire mess."

"You're right. Maybe just a few drinks," Kida decided.

**XXX**

Filled with anxiety, Beatrice gripped the door handle, but hesitated before opening the door.

"Milo, what will you say when she asks how this happened?"

"Oh, damn, I hadn't thought of that."

They thought for a minute as the knocking continued more frantically and rapidly.

Beatrice started, "Oh, I know. Someone in attendance at your anniversary... was angry with you and cornered you in a place where there were no guards and beat you up. How's that?"

"Excellent," Milo smiled weakly.

Beatrice opened the waiting door and greeted the healer, inviting her inside. Forgetting formalities, the healer immediately made her way over to Milo.

Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets, "_Nish_!* What has happened to you, your majesty?"

She immediately rushed to Milo's side, inspecting him for blood, bruises and broken bones.

"An angry citizen attacked me after the anniversary celebration."

"My goodness. And where were your guards? That's what I'd like to know." the healer asked.

"He made sure there were none in sight."

"Unkind but clever, I see," the healer said. She ordered Milo to sit up on the bed and began to inspect his nose to see whether it was broken. The king winced at every touch.

"If you want my opinion, you deserved it," she said casually.

"What?" Milo was confused.

"Gallivanting with that surface girl while you have a wife and then coming late to your anniversary. You should be ashamed," the healer's tone was cheery, but her words were aggressive.

Beatrice frowned. She did not care for this particular healer. Milo was nervous that he would get another beating that night.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to say this, but your nose is broken and it is beyond my abilities as a healer."

Milo was panicking, "You... can't fix it?"

"No, I can fix it."

Milo sighed in relief. The healer continued, "I'll make you my herbal broken-bone remedy. In two days your nose will be good as new."

She dug through her satchel and withdrew several mysterious-looking ingredients.

"This will take a few minutes," the healer went into Beatrice's bathroom to prepare her concoction.

After about five minutes the healer emerged with a goblet filled with a dark red fluid which she presented to Milo.

"It looks like blood," Beatrice remarked in disgust, "It's not actually blood, is it?"

"Heavens, no," the healer laughed, "it just has a strange colour."

Milo eyed the potion suspiciously and took a sip. It was the worst thing he had ever tasted. Straightaway he spat it out, his eyes watering in shock.

"It's awful!" Milo screamed, "Why didn't you tell me that it would taste this bad?"

"Well then you wouldn't have drank any," the healer was calm and trying not to smirk, "And just so you know you have to drink the entire thing."

"What?!" Milo exclaimed.

"Unless you want a broken nose for the rest of your life," she urged.

Milo sighed deeply and stared at the goblet wishing it would disappear. Then he began to chug the liquid but he was only able to finish half of the potion. He wrinkled his face in repulsion as he gulped down what he had sipped. He took a few deep breaths and then finished the potion as quickly as he could.

"Please, water," he cried.

Beatrice brought him some water from the bathroom and he grabbed it from her hands, drinking it in a frenzy of nausea. Once he was finished the water, he looked much more relaxed.

"Sorry, Beatrice, for grabbing the water like that, but that potion was horrible," he flinched at the memory.

"Don't worry about it, at least your nose will be repaired now."

Suddenly the healer began to burst with laughter, "No it won't."

"What?" Beatrice and Milo exclaimed.

"I made it up so that you would pay for what you did to Kida!"

"You did what?" Beatrice was starting to get angry.

"Then what was that potion made of?" Milo looked worried.

"The worst-tasting ingredients I could find; salt, fish eyes, ear wax, dirt, seaweed, crab brains, sour milk, vomit, squid testicles, urine... and I used some red dye so that it would look like blood," she smiled malevolently.

Despite the fact that he had recently been pummeled quite violently, Milo ran to Beatrice's bathroom and began to throw up in the sink.

Beatrice glared at the woman angrily, "Are you even a real healer?"

The healer looked insulted, "Of course I am! It's just satisfying to see certain people get a taste of their own medicine. No pun intended."

"So how are you going to fix Milo's nose then?" Beatrice asked indignantly.

"It's not broken. I just need to crack it," the healer returned to her initially professional manner, "As for the rest of him, I'll do a quick healing and then all that he has to do is get some rest."

Beatrice simmered, "I wish you had told me this in the first place."

After Milo had finished vomiting, Beatrice helped him into the bed again.

"This will pinch a little bit," the healer said to Milo as she pinched his nose and then moved it side-to-side. Milo shrieked in pain and some blood spurted from his nose.

"All fixed," the healer cleaned his face for him and then proceeded to heal his wounds and bruises with her crystal.

"You're welcome!" the healer yelled as she packed up her things and left Beatrice's room.

"Thanks," both Milo and Beatrice groaned.

"Sorry about that healer. I had no idea," Beatrice sighed.

"Don't blame yourself. Besides, once she got down to business she was an excellent healer. I feel much better now," Milo said, "Without you I would have been completely helpless."

He sat up on the bed and gave Beatrice a warm hug, "You're such a good friend. I wish you didn't have to leave."

Beatrice turned away, "Milo, there's something I need to... I haven't been completely honest with you."

* Nish is Atlantean for God.


	15. Subconscious Becomes Conscious

**XXXI**

Neva held up her sister with one arm so that she wouldn't topple onto the ground. They were sitting on the large bed in their secret chamber and Kida was absolutely plastered.

"He doesn't love me," Kida moaned, "he never did."

She had been crying for hours and drinking to forget. Neva had decided that Kida was drunk enough to forget so she had hidden what was left of the alcohol. Neva was slightly tipsy herself and trying to stay sharp (and calm).

"I haven't forgotten yet," Kida despaired, looking around for the alcohol, "I need more."

"I'm sorry, sis but you drank everything we had," Neva said gently but sternly, "Don't you think you've had enough?"

"No, I still remember!" Kida sobbed, "I need to forget! Will I ever forget?"

"Of course. Time heals everything," Neva knew it was a lie but she had to calm Kida down.

"That's what everyone tells me, but it's a lie. How do I carry on?" Kida looked Neva in the eyes, desperate and afraid.

Neva, who usually always has something to say, had no words.

Kida screamed, "I want to kill him! I want to kill myself!"

She ran to the table where the liquor once rested. The only object sitting there was a dagger which they had used to open their many bottles of wine. She grabbed the dagger trying to plunge it through her heart but Neva reacted quickly and wrestled Kida for the knife.

"Don't you dare! Do you know how stupid that is? More importantly, do you know how stupid Milo has been? A stupid deed for a stupid man," when she noticed Kida looking away Neva hid the dagger under the bed's mattress. Safety at last.

Kida walked toward her sister, face wrinkled with despair. She grabbed Neva desperately holding on for dear life.

"Everything will be okay. I'm here for you," Neva said gingerly, a wide contrast from her usually intense demeanor, "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Neva stroked her sister's long white hair praying to the Great Crystal that Kida would be all right.

**XXXII**

"Milo, there's something I need to... I haven't been completely honest with you," Beatrice said.

"What is it?" a look of concern crossed Milo's face.

"The reason I came here. I said that I was here to research the whales around Iceland with my two colleagues but that's not the truth. A pretty weak lie, too, because you don't just sink into Atlantis from Iceland," she chuckled nervously and then became more serious, "No, the truth is that I came here to discover Atlantis."

She looked up at Milo slowly and timidly.

"Discover Atlantis?" Milo asked, perplexed.

Beatrice spoke slowly and hesitantly, "Well, everyone thought you were dead and honestly when I read the article in the paper I was really upset. And what made me more upset was the fact that no one seemed to care whether you were alive or dead. Everyone thought you were crazy... In fact, the day you quit, everyone at the museum seemed, well, happy and some people even had a party to celebrate your resignation."

Hurt, Milo admitted his hopefulness, "I didn't think it was everyone."

"I lied about the people at the museum to spare your feelings," Beatrice sighed, "And the day you left I found some of your papers which eventually led me to the idea that I should finish what you started and find Atlantis; prove to those selfish pricks that sometimes imagination and idealism can change the world," her eyes were fiery with passion.

"I used your notes to plan a small expedition to Atlantis," she continued, "I had to hire a crew and rent a submarine pod and pay other expenses so I worked three jobs for a while to get the money but I didn't mind. I really wanted to do it."

Milo was moved. He felt a frog in his throat realizing that this woman had dedicated herself to his dream of finding Atlantis, and all for him.

"You, you really care that much?" Milo whispered.

"Of course," Beatrice blushed, "All this urging for you to confess when I was the one with the secrets. I'm sorry," she looked down, ashamed.

Beatrice sat down in a chair and started to sing to herself softly and sorrowfully. Milo recognized the tune; it was the St. Louis Blues:

_I hate to see that evenin' sun go down,_

_I hate to see that evenin' sun go down._

_That was the time my baby left this town._

_Feeling tomorrow like I feel today._

_Feeling tomorrow like I feel today._

_Gonna pack my trunk and make my getaway._

_St. Louis woman, with her diamond rings,_

_She pull that man 'round with her apron strings._

_Weren't for powder and that store-bought hair,_

_Oh, that man I love would not gone nowhere._

_I got the St. Louis Blues, blue as I can be._

_That man got a heart like a rock cast in the sea_

_Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me._

It had come out in 1914, the last year he had worked at the museum, and it was one of his favourite songs. It was so mournful, but at the same time cathartic. He couldn't resist joining in, pouring pain into every word. Beatrice's head turned toward him at the sound of his singing and she smiled in surprise but kept the music going. In his mind, a big band orchestra softly accompanied their feeble voices...

Suddenly Milo was back at the museum, sitting in the cafeteria at noon. It was a large room with a long, varied buffet on one end and double doors at the other end. There were many rectangular wooden tables with fancy wooden chairs decorated with red fabric. Both patrons and staff shared the cafeteria, some buying food to eat and some eating bagged lunches. Milo sat alone at his own table, reading a book as usual. Today's feast was an apple and a thin slice of bread.

The table in front of him was full of members of the museum management, Harcourt sitting at the end of the table. They stole quick glances at Milo and sniggered amongst themselves. The hefty men were eating the most expensive meals on the menu; lobster bisque, chocolate soufflé, panini sandwiches, gourmet pizza, caviar in little boxes brought from home... Unexpectedly Harcourt began to sing, leading the fat black slugs in a rendition of their favourite sing-along:

_Milo Thatch is a skinny little stick_

_Whose face could made a peccary sick._

_His proposal we will never pick._

_He has an abnormally tiny..._

The last word of the rhyme was cut off by the rhythmic and collective coughing amongst the men. They laughed uproariously, some slapping their thighs and some spurting coffee and espresso out of their noses. Even in the unlikely case that any of the men actually liked Milo Thatch, they could never reveal their sentiments to Harcourt without being fired or demoted. It was a table of puppets and pawns.

Milo looked past their table, wondering who else was present at his funeral. In the corner of the cafeteria by the doors he could see Beatrice sitting alone and, like him, reading some sort of book. However, she had begun to pack up her things. As she left the cafeteria, Milo noticed that she looked his way several times, although she was frowning. Albert Johnson, the portly man at the other end of the management table, began to sing the second verse, quickly joined by his colleagues:

_He's at the top of our lunatic list._

_Our asses are the only cheeks he's kissed._

_If evidence for Atlantis exists_

_We'll proudly slit our throats and wrists!_

They laughed even louder this time, accompanied by many other cafeteria patrons. Milo buried himself in his book, pretending to be completely absorbed in it and unaware of their taunting. A young woman sitting near the buffet began to sing another verse and the entire cafeteria joined her in singing:

_Mr. Thatch is a dim-witted buffoon;_

_A laughable, idealistic loon._

_I hope that Harcourt fires him soon._

_Let's see what he thinks of seven moons!_

Milo looked up suddenly as he heard the last line, wondering what the people meant by seven moons. Upon finishing the verse the chubby men laboriously but speedily lifted themselves up and pulled down their pants and underwear revealing their wrinkled, enormous butt cheeks, all pointed in Milo's direction. After the quick flashing and concealing of skin the men, many holding master's degrees and doctorates, blew Thatch numerous raspberries and made rude gestures in his direction laughing uncontrollably.

Milo neglected the last few bites of his slice of bread and put them back in his brown paper bag trying to quickly pack up his things and leave for the Smithsonian library. However, as soon as he had stood up to leave, he was promptly bombarded by various chunks of food.

The skinniest of the men, Dr. Laurence Willcocks, who could be accurately described as medium weight, opened his briefcase which was filled with bread rolls and pelted Milo with them. Milo winced; the bread rolls felt like punches. He tried to run but a man dressed in a cheap wellington and a transparent plastic mask stopped him and held him in place; it was Nigel Duford-Tennant.

Kenneth Wagner, the museum's head librarian, pulled several cartons of eggs out of his briefcase and flung the eggs at the linguist. Dr. Oliver Davis-Rhodes, the rare artifacts coordinator, was a meaty man even compared to the others but he sacrificed the rest of his meal for the good of their fun, hurling bits of his second panini and his chocolate soufflé in Milo's direction. The soufflé and sandwich bits stuck to Milo's egg-coated frame, making him look like schnitzel right before it is fried in fat.

Milo struggled to escape Nigel's grip, but it was no use; his clothes were ruined. His only defense mechanism was to close his mouth and eyes so that nothing could get in. Nigel pulled both of Milo's arms together and held them both with his stronger hand while he used his other hand to force Milo's mouth open. First he tasted the soufflé, which rested on his tongue; moist, spongy and decadent. Nigel felt drool dripping onto his hand but he persisted in holding Milo's mouth. Then one of Wagner's eggs landed in Milo's mouth; both shell and egg touching the poor scholar's tongue. Milo screamed as he tasted the snot-like flavour and slimy texture of raw egg. He could hear everyone around him laughing.

Finally, like the icing on a cake, Dr. Eugene Marquis, one of the more important historians, wedgied Milo pulling the young man's underwear high above his head and guffawing uncontrollably. Milo cried out in pain wishing with his entire being that he could fix his underwear.

And then all of a sudden Nigel released his grip on the linguist's mouth and arms. For a moment Milo was stunned that it was over and he didn't know what to do. The important men simply stood around, unable to stop laughing at Milo. But once Milo realized that he was free, he ran like mad.

He ran to the men's bathroom in the lobby praying that he would be alone at last. Museum patrons sniggered at his appearance as he rushed toward the blessed white door of the men's room. Luckily it was empty inside so he immediately gagged regurgitating the raw egg and its shell. Milo fixed his underwear which brought him great relief. Then he drank some water from the sink in an attempt to wash out his mouth. He scrubbed and scrubbed at his clothing with towels and water from the sink but much of the egg still lingered on his clothing and his skin. He longed to be sinking into the hot water of his clean white bathtub.

Defeated, he gave up and looked up at his reflection one last time; his hair was wet with egg liquid and his clothes were dark and wet. There was no way he could make it to the end of the day looking like this. Milo wished it would rain outside but glancing out the window he could see that it was a clear sky. His shoulders shook as he gripped the sink and turned on the waterworks. The linguist's tears dripped into the sink decorating the white porcelain. He would eventually clean himself up once he got home and put on a new change of clothes but could he ever wash away his sadness?

Beatrice wailed out the final phrases of the blues song singing twice as loud as she had begun;

_I hate to see that evenin' sun go down,_

_I hate to see that evenin' sun go down._

_That was the time my baby done left this town._

Milo had stopped singing long ago but she was so wrapped up in the music that she didn't seem to notice. He frowned. Beatrice had finished singing.

"Isn't that a beautiful song?" she smiled.

Milo was silent.

"What's wrong? You seem upset," she said.

"If you knew you were my only friend at the museum and that you loved me, why didn't you ever reach out to me? You could have saved me so much sadness," Milo's face was suddenly streaming with tears, "There were so many painful days. I was so depressed then. I almost killed myself once. Why didn't you try to save me?"

She looked down and said, "It's the worst thing about me. I lose my courage when it matters. I'm just too damn shy. I couldn't stand to see them bully you like that but I was terrified of them too."

She sniffled and wiped at her watering eyes, embarrassed that she was crying.

"I thought I had to go to the bottom of the sea to find someone who truly loved me, but you were right there. Just under my nose."

He smiled and moved his face toward hers delicately kissing her lips. She pulled his head closer, returning the kiss. Bodies burning hot, they were touching head to toe and she could feel a bulge in his crotch area. She could feel his smooth, satiny blond hair in her hand and feel his hand wandering down her back, fingers trembling with pleasure and nervousness. But then, with great effort and difficulty, he drew away and shook his head. Beatrice's lips lamented the loss and quivered in rejection.

Milo made eye contact but his eyes were mournful, "But it's too late. I'm sorry, Beatrice. I'm married now."

The words cut like a knife.


	16. Wanderlust

**XXXIII**

Kida was extremely woozy in Neva's arms, but still conscious.

"Kida, you should just go to sleep," Neva sighed, "it's been a long day for you and you need rest."

"No, I want to talk about Milo," Kida said with desperation, "I can't just forget."

Neva sat up straighter, annoyed that her sister wouldn't drop it and just fall asleep.

"I've been patient with you, but this is enough!" Neva slapped her sister in the face. Kida jolted into a slightly more sober state, shocked.

Neva stared at Kida, teeth clenched, "Why the hell do you think Milo is even worthy of your thoughts right now? Are you just going to sit here and whine about him until morning? Are you just going to wait it out? Either you go to sleep and get the rest you need or make a damn decision! If you keep talking about him like this, I will leave you alone for the night!"

Kida started to cry, clutching Neva's hands, "Please don't leave me, sister!"

"Well, what is it going to be?" Neva leered at her in anxious expectation.

Kida's dreamy blue eyes looked into her sister's fierce green eyes, "Okay, I will make a decision," she paused, collecting her thoughts, "I have decided that -"

Suddenly her eyes rolled back into her head and she became limp like a fish deprived of water. Within minutes Kida was snoring peacefully.

"Damn it all," Neva sighed.

**XXXIV**

Milo felt himself trying to grasp Beatrice's soft brown hair and lean in for another kiss, so he tried his best to resist the power of her green eyes by avoiding eye contact.

Looking down at the floor he spoke slowly, but with uncertainty, "I should leave. I'm sorry. If you need to talk, you know where to find me."

She wanted to tear him away from the door and plead with him to stay, but he was right. It wasn't fair to Kida. He left, closing the door quietly.

Beatrice was still for a few minutes and then threw herself onto the bed, crying. She was crushed like a flower under the wheel of an army tank. She wished she could just become a part of nature and never be seen by anyone again. Maybe she would become a blade of grass at the edge of Atlantis, with nothing to trouble her except the occasional wild animal attempting to eat her or her neighbours.

After a long stream of tears were poured into her pillow, she got up from the bed and walked to the window. It looked like it was now several hours past midnight. Beatrice was exhausted but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight, if at all. She grabbed a hooded cloak, a black mask and some black gloves to hide her identity and her light skin and went out into the dark city of Atlantis.

**XXXV**

Riddled with guilt, Milo was tempted to leave Atlantis and visit the Stone Giant again.

"No, I need to confess to Kida and apologize," Milo was firm with himself, "But first I have to actually find out where she is."

He started walking down the hallway, hoping he wouldn't see any people except Kida. It wasn't long before he had looked everywhere in the palace without finding a trace of his wife. He sighed and located a ketak, mounting it and taking in the shrinking city of Atlantis, lit lightly by lanterns and torches. It was much harder to see at night in Atlantis than it was to see at night in Washington. Without electricity the light from fire was much fainter.

"What if I can't find her?" Milo's heart started to beat faster as he soared over Atlantean homes.

**XXXVI**

Beatrice watched the throngs of people gossiping about her and Milo and Kida as they walked around and it made her feel even worse than before, if that was possible. Most nights the city of Atlantis was lightly lit with pinks, reds, yellows, blues and greens; marketplaces and festivals lit by lanterns.

Tonight it was dark and moody, the only lighting provided by each Atlantean's crystal as they whispered to each other, concerned for Kida. It reminded Beatrice of American newspapers and the conversations that might spark from a particularly scandalous headline in the Washington Post. Luckily, people seemed to be calming down and retiring to their huts and cottages, their quota of excitement filled for the day.

Thoughts of tomorrow morning pushed to the front of Beatrice's mind. She must leave and never see Kida, Atlantis, the Atlanteans or Milo ever again. In only a few hours.

"At least the packing will be easy," she thought to herself, suddenly bursting into tears and becoming a blubbering mess. She tried not to make any noise as she cried, wiping her eyes constantly and sniffling quietly. Nevertheless, no one around her seemed to notice; they were too occupied chatting and walking to their homes.

One exception was an old woman who noticed Beatrice's sniffling and suddenly wrapped Beatrice in a warm, tight embrace, lightly stroking her back.

"I know, dear," she whispered, "I know. I am also worried about Atlantis."

The comfort offered by the old woman made Beatrice cry even more profusely.

"It'll be okay. You'll see," the elder smiled at her, "Chin up."

And with that the old woman left Beatrice standing by a closed-up fish stall. She tried to calm herself by gazing at the horizon above the Atlantean buildings. In the distance she could see a dark figure riding a ketak over the palace.

"Who would be riding a ketak this late at night?" the girl wondered.


	17. Courage Cowers

**XXXVI**

After scrutinizing nearly every home in Atlantis in search of his wife, Milo reluctantly changed locations. Within seconds he was hovering over the Atlantean school where he and Kida taught. He wandered the dark halls and peered into the window of each classroom. The primary colours and children's toys looked eerie in the darkness.

The last place he could think of was the hospital that he had been avoiding since he rescued Beatrice from that horrible, disgusting situation. Milo had been dreading his inevitable visit to the building but now was not the time for cowardice. The hospital was only a short walk away from the school.

Milo held the keys to every public building in the city which allowed him to enter the hospital easily. The hallways of the hospital were even more dark and frightening than the school hallways. As Milo turned a corner, his eyes were drawn to the glowing orange light of a candle at the end of the hall which lit the face of none other than the security guard. Normally Milo would have expected a rush of fear and an impulse to run away, but all he felt that night was anger and annoyance.

"GET OUT!" Milo bellowed, shattering the stark silence of the hallway. His piercing brown eyes stared impatiently at the guard.

"Make me!" the guard shot back, "Make me, you bone-coloured moron! I know you're terrified of me. This is just an act. And not a very good one."

Head pressed to the window of a hospital room door, the guard smirked at a scene that was familiar and enjoyable to him; an unconscious Atlantean woman's naked body manipulated by the hands and genitalia of a man.

"You're the least of my fears now," Milo said. He grabbed the corrupt guard by the ears and threw him to the ground. Milo pounded at the man's stomach with his foot repeatedly, anger rising with each blow. The guard attempted to grab Milo's foot and pull him to the ground, but Milo moved his foot away, kicking the guard in the groin and the face. The scholar wanted to keep hurting this man but he was losing energy and he still needed to find Kida.

Milo went into the hospital room and pulled the repugnant man off of the unconscious woman. Both Atlanteans were completely naked and Milo tried to avert his eyes but it was difficult. The woman's rapist was very muscular and veins protruded from his arms and his bare chest. He had long, flowing white hair which looked rough and primitive. His face was square and hardened with hate. While Milo was deciding how to subdue the man quickly, he was punched in the face and thrown to the ground.

His glasses were lopsided and he could only see clearly out of one eye. Milo's previous courage was waning and he hoped the muscular man would simply get dressed and leave in shame. Exhausted, the scholar feebly adjusted his glasses and lifted himself from the ground, but the Atlantean man pushed him back down.

Milo prayed that he wouldn't be punched again and, strangely, his wish was granted. However, the white-haired man began to pull at Thatch's blue toga, whisking if off of his small frame. Milo was left wearing nothing but his crystal, his blue sandals and his white boxers, the only clothing he still wore regularly from his life in Washington. The Atlantean ripped Milo's crystal off of his neck, snapping the brown string, and tossed it aside. Milo was paralyzed with panic and he couldn't breathe. His anger and daring had vanished as soon as they had come.

"What he is going to do to me?" Milo asked himself. In the back of his mind, he knew the answer.

The Atlantean man was so close that Milo could smell the stench of sweat and body odour. His white hair fell on Milo's chest and, like a cat intent on hunting a mouse, he forced his lips onto Milo's. Milo's screams were muffled by flesh and he tried to push the man away, but the Atlantean was too heavy and powerful. The muscular man's tongue tasted like raw fish. Thatch felt a tongue pushing its way around his mouth and he wished the Atlantean man had killed him instead. This was so much more frightening and humiliating than death. Suddenly Milo felt his underwear being pulled down his legs and he struggled hopelessly, wishing his arms were free to cover his crotch.

And then, like magic, the white-haired man was lying on the ground, motionless. The girl from the hospital bed stood, naked and triumphant, over the psychotic man, wielding a candlestick. Her brown skin glowed in the faint candlelight of the hospital room.

Milo opened his mouth to speak, but all he could muster was a weak, frightened "thank you" as he rushed to hold his toga over his exposed body. The modesty and shame of his Western upbringing was difficult to unlearn. He couldn't think of anything else to say. She wrapped a blanket from the hospital bed around herself almost as if it were an afterthought.

"Are you okay, your majesty?" she asked tenderly, moving closer to him.

"Uh," he hesitated, still processing what had just happened, "Yes. Are you?"

"I'll be okay," she said sadly. The young woman looked at Milo carefully. He looked weary and disheveled, wearing many bruises and cuts. His brown eyes were filled with confusion and fear, verging on defeat.

She moved even closer and embraced him warmly. Milo nearly fell asleep in her arms.

"I hope this isn't too impertinent but you look terrible, King Milo. You need to get some rest. Do you have somewhere to sleep?" she looked at him with pity.

Milo stared at the broken crystal necklace and then slipped it into the pocket of his toga. His manner became more businesslike, perhaps out of desperation, as he got dressed, "Thank you for your concern, but I am perfectly fine. I just need to find my wife and then I'll get plenty of rest."

"Are you sure?" she asked, but he had already left the room and through the doorway she could see him marching down the hall.

Milo needed to find Kida but it was nearly morning and he was drained. It had been such a horrible, emotional day and he felt as if he might lose consciousness within minutes. He managed to reach the throne room, hoping a second look in the palace might be fruitful.

"I'm so tired," Milo moaned, "maybe I'll sit down and rest. Just for a minute."

He sat on his throne, reaching for one of his novels. The cover of Great Expectations was unexpectedly mutilated. He remembered it being in excellent condition just a few days ago. This had been happening to many of his novels.

"Why are all of my books getting so worn out?" he sighed, "I'm very careful with them. Is there a wild animal hiding in...?"

His view of the room became clouded and then his eyelids forced themselves shut. Peace; at least for a while...


	18. Are We Just Going To Wait It Out?

**XXXVII**

The streets were abandoned and dark. It was after 2 AM; she was sure of it. The night market had closed hours ago and it seemed as if everyone in Atlantis had gone to bed. The chaos had come to a close and the city of Atlantis had become a dark void. She wondered whether there were criminals and mad men hiding in the bushes, waiting to pounce. That hospital guard, for one. All this panic distracted her from what her mind wished to avoid; Milo.

The way he had kissed her...

"Does he love me?" she remembered the way he trembled in pleasure as they kissed and how much she wished she was still with him right now.

"Does it matter? He's married," her thoughts wrestled against each other, "I keep forgetting that I would ruin a marriage and Kida would be devastated."

Unnerved by the empty and frightening atmosphere, Beatrice began to walk back to her room.

"Should I just say goodbye and leave tomorrow or should I finally tell him that I," she sighed, "love him?"

She looked carefully at each bush, tree, hut, building, bird, every small detail that crossed her path as she continued her walk home.

"Help me out, fate! I need a sign!" she yelled at the sky impatiently.

The sky answered her with a haughty silence.

Once she reached her room she closed the door and locked it, immediately walking to the window to watch the empty streets below, lost in thought.

Beatrice suddenly remembered looking into Milo's sad brown eyes as he pulled away from their embrace. It was like being taken from a warm bed and being thrown into an icy lake. Those cold words: "It's too late. I'm married now."

Her face crumpled in wretched sorrow as a tear slid down her cheek. An icy breeze blew through her and she shivered violently.

She closed the window and took solace between the snug sheets of her bed, one of her few remaining comforts. Exhausted, she was asleep in minutes.

**XXXVIII**

Neva jolted awake to the sound of Kida retching. Neva lay in a mess of bottles and various Atlantean foods on their bed.

"Kida, you're awake," she mumbled tiredly, "what time is it?"

"We're underground. How should I know?" Kida snapped, but promptly changed her tone, "I'm sorry, Neva. I do not feel good at all. My head hurts, I feel sick to my stomach, I'm tired. I want to go back to sleep but unfortunately there is much to do and I am not looking forward to any of it..."

"I don't mean to add to your problems," Neva began gingerly, "but have you given your decision any more thought?"

"Yes," it was all Kida could come up with as a response.

"And?"

"I don't know, Neva. I still don't know! I just can't find the strength."

"For what?"

"All of my problems and responsibilities; the city of Atlantis, being queen, Beatrice, Milo..."

"Milo?" Neva stared at her sister meaningfully, "So there. You said it yourself; he's a problem, not your husband."

"But Neva, it's not that simple."

"It IS simple!" Neva sighed in exasperation, "If he really cared about you, he would be trying to find you right now but instead he's probably with Beatrice."

"But we're the only people who know about this chamber."

"Kida," Neva raised her eyebrows, "you know in your heart that even if he did know where we were, he still wouldn't find you because he isn't looking."

Kida was silent. She felt as if her sister had just slapped her. She began to weep.

"Oh Kida," Neva let Kida cry on her shoulder, "You know that I still love you, along with your people," she wiped the tears from under Kida's eyes, "They are on your side, not his."

Neva moved away from Kida and began to put on her blue dress so that she looked presentable enough for the public.

"I'm going to get us some breakfast. Eating something will make you feel better. I'll be back in a little while," Neva smiled sympathetically, "Feel better soon."

Kida began to clean the room, putting away the bottles, cleaning up the table of food and making the bed. It helped her to think. While the cleaned, she tried to make sense of her life.

She imagined herself staying with Milo. She would forgive him for their anniversary fiasco and for kissing Beatrice and then Beatrice would leave for the surface. With Beatrice gone, he would continue to think about her and long for her to return. Maybe he would decide to travel to the surface and visit her. Maybe he would never return. Or if she didn't allow him to visit her, he would grow cold and resentful and their relationship would be... well, the way it has been in the past few weeks and months. Her life would be miserable and any desperate attempt to repair their former friendship and romance would fail miserably. Perhaps he would fall in love with another Atlantean woman and repeat the process.

Kida sorted the bottles into several rows in a corner of the room near the table of food and then began to clean the table.

She would live that empty life with Milo until she died, waiting for a change; for a rebirth that would never come.

"Am I just going to wait?" Kida asked herself, "I only have one life, even if it is enormously long."

She imagined her life without Milo. She would tell Milo to be with Beatrice and angrily reject their marriage. They would go through the divorce ceremony. He would no longer be King so he would have his tattoos painfully removed. She smirked cruelly. He would probably leave Atlantis for good, which would be painful, but it would be more painful if they stayed there together. Leaving Atlantis would be an enormous sacrifice for him but if he loved Beatrice he would do it.

Kida knew everyone in Atlantis personally and there were no men there that she felt attracted to. Unless she ventured up to the surface world, she would be alone.

"I'd rather be alone than stay with Milo. I'd rather be happy," Kida delicately arranged the sheets and pillows on the bed. The room looked perfect; better than it did last night when they arrived, "there are more important things than love; my family, my people and my kingdom."

A rumbling coming from the ceiling distracted Kida from her thoughts. The morning light from the throne room was blinding. She saw Neva's feminine yet frightening silhouette slowly descending to her level.

"I'm back," Neva's hands were filled with fruit and well-cooked fish. The aroma of fish and Atlantean seasoning filled the room. The light escaped the room as the tile returned to the ceiling.

"You look more relaxed now," Neva smiled, "But I must warn you; Milo is sleeping upstairs. I almost woke him up but luckily I was quiet enough to get back here without a sound. I suggest we go upstairs before he wakes up and eat outdoors."

"No, I want to talk to Milo," Kida said.

"What? Why?" Neva asked.

"Because I want a divorce," her face was contented and determined.

Neva was relieved, "You finally decided. Well, how do you feel?" she looked at Kida expectedly.

"Free," Kida smiled.

They tried to leave their secret chamber stealthily but Milo's chair was empty and the throne room was empty. All that remained were a few pillows and a blanket resting on the throne.


	19. Must Be Dreaming

XXXIX

Déjà vu. He found himself on those same steps, humiliated and soaking wet. The fancy coach was driving Harcourt down the street, home to his various accolades and his flawless reputation. He could still see Harcourt's skeptical, haughty face looking down on his, barely meeting his eyes.

Harcourt's ridiculing words reverberated, refusing to leave his mind, "You want to go on an expedition? Here! Take a trolley to the Potomac and jump in! Maybe the cold water will clear your head. Heinz!"

The coin still sat between his legs, spinning devilishly and then falling to the ground as it made a small noise, a reminder of what Harcourt thought his ideas were worth. Milo's papers and scrolls were in a shambles; he peeled them off the ground and placed them in his shoulder bag, hoping to dry them out at home somehow.

But then he remembered what happened next. Helga would pull up and invite him into the car, in a matter of seconds. Actually she should have been here by now.

"Dreams are so predictable," he thought, "at least this one will be enjoyable."

Milo's heart began to flutter back to good health as he looked forward to that warm coach, the wondrous proposition waiting for him, the relief that someone out there wanted his dreams to come true.

He stared at the street for a few minutes, still sitting forlorn on the curb, like a child waiting for his parents to pick him up from school. And then, having waited enough seconds, he stood up and took a walk down the street. He wanted to stay and meet Helga again, soak up the old memory of one of the greatest moments of his life, but he couldn't control his body very well and it had different plans for him. Turning his head around, he could see the Smithsonian Castle slowly drifting away.

"Oh, that's right," he thought to himself, "I met Helga when I went home and she had a 'most intriguing proposition for me.' That's why I've been waiting so long... This happened so long ago I've forgotten the details."

His mind finally in agreement with his body, he followed his usual route home, hit with a heavy dose of nostalgia as he passed familiar landmarks. The newsstand where the paper boys would spit out headlines tirelessly, the white Catholic church that dwarfed the other buildings where homeless people begged the unresponsive citizens for coins and food, the noisy fish market on Maine Avenue, the green Ellipse in front of the majestic White House; everything looked the same. Nothing had changed. It was as if he had travelled back in time to his sad life in Washington, DC.

He wanted to drop his books and things at home and then take a walk around his old neighbourhood but he was suddenly drawn to his favourite landmark, the bridge east of the Tidal Basin. He had to go through the West Potomac Park to reach it, which he would do with joy. His walks through the park back in the day were often the only thing that kept him going after particularly dreadful days at the museum.

He continued his walk down Independence Avenue, beginning to see the Washington Monument jutting out of the trees and buildings. The tallest obelisk in the world, tallest stone structure and most certainly the tallest building in Washington, DC. The Americans had defeated the Egyptians at their own craft.

The brown and white buildings turned into greenery as he entered the West Potomac Park, his land of peace. Harcourt and his friends never ventured out for a walk in the park. They were more fond of restaurants and theatres, which suited Thatch quite nicely. Surrounded by bright green elms and cherry blossom trees, there was a sudden spring in his step, a freedom in his movements. The sound of trains and chatter was replaced by birds and a soft breeze. He sat on a park bench, watching people canoeing around the Tidal Basin, as elegant as the swans and ducks in their fashionable overcoats and feathered hats. He could see the monument in the distance again, with a cloud of pink trees and a pool of water at its base. It was a strange sight to see, but all the same it was gorgeous. He used to think he lived in the most beautiful city in the world, but Atlantis had changed his mind.

Milo noticed that the sky was getting darker and decided to relocate to the bridge to get a good view of the sunset. The street lamps flipped on like a switch as he walked through the woods. At some points the trees reached from one side of the path to the water, arching over the heads of pedestrians. As Milo looked up it was as if he was surrounded by cotton candy.

A photographer was the only other person at the inlet bridge when he arrived, obviously there to get a picture of the view from the bridge, which was astounding. He could see the monument, the cherry blossom trees, the city buildings and the vast expanse of the basin darkening as the sun lowered. The colourful trees painted the sparkling water.

"I need to spend a few days here again after I wake up," Milo said aloud. Strangely enough the photographer didn't seem to have heard him.

Suddenly the sky matched the trees in their pinkness and the park was almost completely dark. It was a wonderful sunset; orange, red, pink and dramatic.

"Isn't it lovely?" the photographer beamed, "I wish I could capture all of the colours..."

Milo nodded, "it's never the same as seeing it up close... It's an experience."

"Aw shucks, now I'm feeling all romantic," he slowly packed up his photography bag and collapsed his tripod, "I'm off to see my wife. Have a good evening, chap."

"And to you, sir," Milo responded.

Now the tip of the sun was the only thing left, lighting the sky with a small orange glow.

"Sunsets are so fleeting. They're gone before you know it so you have to pay attention," Milo mused.

Soon it was completely dark and only the street lights lit the bridge. Milo leaned over the railing again, looking at the lights across the lake, illuminating Washington like fireflies. Light reflected in the water and it gave him a feeling of mystery and warmth. He felt a tap on his shoulder and yelped in fright.

"Fancy seeing you here," Beatrice smiled, "sorry that I scared you."

"Oh, hello Beatrice."

She wore a medium brown trenchcoat and a small practical green hat which complimented her dark green eyes and curling brown hair. Her smile was warm but uncertain. Milo's heart fluttered as he tried to think of what to say. Her presence was quite a surprise, but not an unpleasant one.

"Erm, I guess you really like this park, do you... like it?" he stammered.

"Like it? I love it," she grinned, "I come here every morning and sometimes at night."

"I come here after work."

Beatrice moved to the railing and they observed the Tidal Basin side-by-side. A full moon glowed brightly above them.

"What's your favourite thing here?"

"Oh... everything; this bridge, the trees, the sunsets..." he said, wishing he could choose one thing and look decisive.

"I love how... it is so much more alive than the city and yet it's so much more quiet and peaceful."

"Yes, it's ironic," Thatch agreed, "Like that Freedom statue on top of the Capitol which was made by a slave."

"Ironic in a less depressing way," Beatrice sighed.

"You look lovely in that trench coat and hat," Milo blushed as he tried to keep his composure.

"Oh, thank you! How nice of you to notice. You look handsome as well. Well, you always do," she tried to avoid eye contact.

"Why am I feeling so nervous?" Milo wondered, "This is a dream. Shouldn't I be brave? I sound like an imbecile."

This is a dream... this is a dream... He heard those words being repeated in a whisper near his ear. It was such a quiet whisper that he couldn't tell whether the voice was male or female. His heart quickened when he didn't see Beatrice's lips moving.

He suddenly saw glowing lights flickering from under the surface of the water. It didn't make sense to him, unless there was a new species of glowing fish in the DC area. Where did these lights come from?

This is a dream... this is a dream... this is a dream... The voice grew louder and it was a woman's voice, gentle and relaxed, soothing.

The lights emerged from the water, moving together in an organized group. They were little insects; fireflies, lightning bugs. They flew away from the lake and formed a circle around Beatrice and Milo. A playful group of fireflies left the group to make a necklace around Beatrice's neck. She flinched in shock, but her smile was wide with wonder. Another group of fireflies traced the pattern of Milo's glasses. Thatch was almost faint with surprise but he wanted the dream to keep going, maybe forever.

Beatrice laughed at Milo's ridiculous glowing glasses, "That's a nice look for you."

Suddenly the cherry blossom trees shook violently and surrendered their flowers and petals to the sky. The petals rained down on the Tidal basin and the people in the park. Milo and Beatrice were soon covered in pink petals.

"What is happening?"

"Don't worry, Milo," Beatrice held Milo's hand and finally looked into his eyes, "it's just a dream. Nothing can hurt us."

The fireflies had reformed into a circle around them.

"Your eyes..." Milo was frozen in place.

"What about them?" Beatrice said.

"They're green, like a forest, like pine trees..."

Their faces grew closer and excitement swelled in their chests. And then she kissed him. His eyes widened as he felt the softness of her lips and smelled the sweet scent of her. His hand felt her hair and then glided down her back. Her hand softly stroked his neck and it felt heavenly. He could feel the unfamiliar sensation of her breasts against his chest.

The water in the tidal basin bubbled and became more and more tumultuous. Waves crashed beside them and soon it was too frightening to ignore. They both looked away from each other for a second and his dream dissipated into darkness.

Milo awoke in the throne room with a sharp pain in his side. He had drifted off of his throne and onto the floor, resting his head on a cushion from the throne. He had also inadvertently used a mutilated copy of Middlemarch as a pillow for his mid-section. He lifted up his toga to find an enormous purple bruise staining the side of his abdomen.

"Great," he groaned, pulling the toga back down.

His fatigue was crippling and his mind was clouded, screaming for sleep. When he stood up and tried to walk, it was a stagger. He longed to return to his marvelous dream or to at least have some breakfast, but he needed to find Kida, if it wasn't too late. Despite that dream and the questions it raised, he had to reconcile with her.

A gentle steam emerged from the throne room, but Milo didn't have time to find out what it was. He had to hurry.


End file.
